Sirius Black's Hogwarts Adventure
by Huggable-Fanatic
Summary: Story about Sirius from 1st-7th at Hogwarts, Contains SB/RL and JP/LE pairings later on in the fic : Im not very good at summaries but give it a chance! It gets better as it goes on-at least I think so! Rated R for Swearing and violence, R&R Please!
1. Chapter 1 Journey to Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. **

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Even at eleven years old, he had known. Known that he was different, well not just him. His whole family weren't exactly normal. That much was clear just from looking around the crowded platform 9 and ¾.

The hustle and bustle of the platform was rather a shock to the black haired boy. He had been escorted to said platform by his cousin Narcissa – she was going into her fifth year at Hogwarts – who had quickly left him without another word to sit with her fellow Slytherins in one of the many compartments. He had, naturally assumed that all the other students would be as quiet and gloomy as his family tended to be.

Another thing that seemed out of place to him was that there were so many adults on the platform. Didn't they have more important things to do that wait about for a train they didn't even intend on boarding? His father had clearly stated that if he was old enough to go to Hogwarts then he was old enough to take care of himself. Now, that was something he definitely agreed with, after all he practically took care of himself anyway. Well, not including the meals that Kreacher made of course, but that was house-elf work anyways.

Suddenly a large whistle sounded from the scarlet train, and snapping out of his daze he ran to the side of the train throwing his suitcase on before attempting to jump on board as the train began to pull out from the station.

He wouldn't have made it on if it hadn't been for hand pulling him inwards. The hand belonged to a small, thin boy with disastrously horrid black hair. He was wearing rather funny looking glasses and had a large grin plastered to his face.

'Wow that was a close one huh.' The boy stated in a relieved manner. 'Not much use having you on a platform and your belongings on their way to Hogwarts.' he continued excitedly. 'Let's go get a compartment' He said striding off.

'Shouldn't we put the suitcases somewhere?' He found himself asking unsurely.

'Nah' the other boy said flippantly. 'We know where they are don't we? So there's no problem, they'll be exactly where we left them.'

He got the distinct feeling that this boy was going to get him in trouble if he wasn't careful but he couldn't help feeling pulled towards this stranger.

It didn't take long for the two boys to realise that the compartments were all full, and he was beginning to feel irritated by the whole situation when they came across a compartment with one solitary person inside.

'Mind if we sit here?' The messy haired boy asked. But without waiting for an answer he plopped himself confidently down in front of the new stranger.

The other boy was small-although not as small as the first boy-and fragile looking. He had a light scar across his face and seemed to be trying to hide-unsuccessfully due to the shortness of it-beneath his light coloured hair.

'I'm James Potter.' The spectacled boy said proudly. Seeming not to notice the other boys discomfort at being addressed by strangers.

'I...I'm Remus.' The scarred boy said hesitantly. 'Remus Lupin.'

'This is...' James turned towards him face creased in confusion. 'Actually, who are you?'

'Sirius Black.' He laughed at the other boy's confusion. But his laughter stopped short as the tension in the room heightened.

'Oh...' James said looking rather crestfallen. 'I didn't realise you were a black, I...I probably shouldn't hang out with you then, I don't think the family would appreciate it.'

'What's the problem?' Sirius demanded feeling offended by the other boy's explanation.

'Well it's just...your family are all Slytherins and everyone knows that Slytherins are bad trouble, plus Blacks meddle in dark magic and I don't want anything to do with it.'

'So?'

'Don't you understand that it's bad to meddle with stuff like that? It's dangerous Sirius.' James exclaimed unbelievingly. Sirius though carefully, he knew it was dangerous but...didn't everyone do stuff like that? 'You really don't get that it's wrong, do you?' James asked uncertainly.

'What house do you wanna be in then?' He said defensively. 'Hufflepuff?'

'Gryffindor' James said proudly and you'd want to too if you had any sense. Slytherins are nasty evil people. Gryffindors are brave and courageous and loyal.'

'I could be brave and all those other things if I wanted to.' Sirius snorted stepping towards James threateningly.

'Why don't the two of you just agree to disagree?' Remus interrupted in a small voice.

Just then the compartment door opened and a tall, thin boy with a rather large nose and greasy black locks stepped into the compartment.

'Ah Black, Narcissa said you were here somewhere. You're not seriously hanging out with these pathetic losers.' He sneered and Sirius didn't like the way he was speaking to him one bit. Sure James was acting pompous but Remus hadn't done anything to deserve the boy's cruel words.

'Who do you think you are?' James shot angrily.

'Severus Snape actually.' He spat back, lip curling angrily.

'Well bugger off.' Sirius jumped in. 'No one asked you to come here Snape; I don't need Narcissa setting up a play date for me.'

'Perhaps not, but I doubt Bella will be too happy about your choice of friends.' Sirius felt his stomach tighten slightly, his cousin wasn't exactly the nicest of people and she would not only punish him but most likely report back to his parents as well.'

'He can be friends with whoever he wants' James cut in with a glare.

'The question is why he would want to be friends with your sort. You couldn't get into Slytherin if you tried.'

'Why would I try to be in Slytherin? I prefer not be surrounded by scum.' James snapped back.

'Oh I suppose you'd rather be a Gryffindor then.' Snape sneered.

'As a matter of fact, yeah I would. Funnily enough I actually strive to be a _decent _person. Although I doubt someone like you could understand that.'

With one final look of hate towards the group Snape strided out of the compartment.

James slammed the compartment door behind the greasy-haired boy before sitting down beside Remus once more.

'_That's_ the type of people you'll get as friends in Slytherin.' James said pointedly.

'Yeah but, I don't think I'm allowed to be friends with people from other houses.' Sirius said sadly

'Why not?' James asked curiously.

'It's not what we do, Black's go in Slytherin and that's it, no discussion and no friends from other houses.'

'It's hardly fair for them to suddenly decide for you.' James reasoned. The more Sirius thought about it the more James' words made sense to him. He didn't have to a Slytherin if he didn't want to; it was his choice...wasn't it?'

All thoughts soon drifted far from his mind as the compartment door opened once more, this time revealing a trolley full of sweets and both he and James jumped up ready to demolish whatever they could. Grins plastered to their faces.

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**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated :P**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	2. Chapter 2 The Sorting Ceremony

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. **

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

When the train finally came to a stop the previously clean compartment was covered in all sorts of wrappers and boxes. The two boys had bought so much from the trolley that they were left feeling rather sick. Sirius found that for the first time that he didn't mind sharing his stuff; he had willingly offered some of his food to Remus who didn't have any money with him at the time.

Sirius had feeling that this wasn't quite as a surprise as the small boy made out, simply from looking at the boy it was obvious that he must be quite poor-his robes were quite shabby looking next to his own and James' new robes.

They were soon ushered out of the train and it wasn't until they were already on the platform that Sirius remembered the suitcases. However, Remus had assured him that they would still get taken up to the castle regardless of where the two boys had dumped them.

The first years were lead way from the other students towards the boats where they were ushered into boats in groups of four.

James, Remus and himself all climbed into one of the boats and were joined by a fourth person. He seemed very nervous, asking for permission to join them in the boat. Introductions began once more with the new boy introducing himself as Peter Pettigrew. Peter Pettigrew was a very short boy – a lot shorter than the rest of the group – with mousy brown hair and a rather pointed nose.

The boats set of towards the castle and there wasn't a single word uttered the whole way-although there was audible gasps from some of the students-he looked around at the others in his boat, James was staring upwards in wonder seeming excitable and next to him Peter was staring over the edge of the boat down into the dark water. Sirius felt tempted to lean over to see what was so interesting when he caught sight of Remus' face. Remus, who was sitting next to him, was staring at the castle in awe. What was startling however was that Sirius could swear that the boy's eyes were filled with tears.

It didn't take long for them to reach the castle and they were soon standing in the entrance hall, nervously waiting to enter the Great Hall. Well apart from Sirius, nervous was barely even part of his vocabulary and certainly not a family trait. They stood quietly, listening to Professor McGonagall's speech but by the time they entered the Great Hall Sirius couldn't remember a single word of it.

Looking around the Great Hall he suddenly felt nervous. All eyes were on the first years and out of the corner of his eye he could see his cousins Narcissa and Bellatrix watching him intently.

By the time the sorting hat had stopped twittering on Sirius felt he couldn't wait much longer-his stomach was rumbling loudly and he felt awkward standing in the centre of the great hall for so long.

Unfortunately he hadn't realised that he really didn't have long to wait. It was time for the sorting and all eyes turned on him as the first name was called.

'Sirius Black' He walked steadily forward and sat carefully on the stool perfectly aware that he was being watched by every set of eyes in the room. The last thing he looked at before the hat was placed upon him was the faces of James, Remus and Peter. They were all smiling encouragingly at him.

'Ah, it's been a while since the last Black sat on this stool. Now, where to put you...cunning, resourceful. You'd make a good addition to Slytherin house. But...no, you don't share the same views, ambitions. You could easily join Ravenclaw you know, intelligent, quick-witted.'

'Gryffindor.' Sirius thought. 'People like James, that's who I want as friends, not those gits in Slytherin.'

'Yes, that would quite suit you I think, you want to differ from those you'd normally associate with. You have the courage to do just that, Gryffindors are brave, loyal...yes, you could do great things...although...perhaps you would be better suited in...'

'No, no, no Gryffindor, please Gryffindor.' He thought desperately. He had finally met someone who had wanted to be friends with him for being him, and not just because they were scared to say no to a member of the _Noble_ house of Black. He'd never felt so at ease with someone before. Even with his family he was always on edge, trying not to anger them.

'I see,' the hat said reading his thoughts. 'Well then, looks like you're the newest addition to...Gryffindor!'

The Great Hall erupted into a mixture of applause and gasps. Sirius stood up nervously; he could feel all the Slytherins staring at him in shock. He couldn't think of any Black who hadn't been sorted into Slytherin. He could feel his cousins' eyes bearing into him. His parents would most likely get a report on the shocking event at some point to night by Bella. He gulped, he would be in a lot of trouble for this, but he didn't have to think of that now. That could wait for the holidays...unless...they wouldn't pull him out would they? After all, that would surely just bring more attention to his not being in Slytherin.

As he walked towards the surprised looking students at Gryffindor table he suddenly felt his heart soar happily. James, Remus and Peter were all clapping extra loudly-James adding in the occasional whistle-he had never felt that before, that sense of...well belonging.

'Lily Evans' Professor McGonagall called just as Sirius had taken his seat at the end of the table. Lily Evans was a confident redhead who practically ran towards the hat pulling it on excitedly. It wasn't long before the call of 'Gryffindor' was heard by all and she came rushing over sitting down opposite him with a large smile.

'Remus Lupin' was the next call and Sirius watched intently as the small boy hurried forward, he now looked even paler than before-if that was at all possible-to the point where he could easily have been mistaken as badly ill. The hat was placed on Remus' head and unlike the other times when everyone had went silent there were murmurs from the students watching. Sirius could hear them, whispering about the scars on Remus' face, questioning them. He surprised himself by feeling quite angered by the whispers of the other students. Although he didn't really know Remus he felt slightly protective of him. He seemed fragile, as if he needed protected from the other students. He was knocked out of his thoughts by the hats shout of 'Gryffindor!'

Sirius beamed widely as the boy came towards the table with a small smile playing on his lips. Even though he wasn't displaying a huge amount of emotion Sirius got the feeling that Remus was extremely pleased with the result. He looked at Sirius and then at Lily before choosing to sit beside Sirius who was quite glad to have proper company.

The sorting seemed never ending with many students who he doubted he'd remember the names of being sorted into their respective houses. Peter had been sorted into Gryffindor and had sit next to Lily-much to her apparent dislike- and now James was bounding towards the stool excitedly. The hat had barely even touched his head before shouting 'Gryffindor' and Sirius-along with the others at the table-stood clapping loudly and grinning as James came running towards them. He threw himself into the seat beside Peter so that he could properly see Sirius.

'So, looks like you're going to be the most talked about first year.' James said clearly. 'You're the most outlandish thing that's ever happened to the Black family. Welcome to the life of rebellion.' James said happily offering Sirius his hand. Sirius shook it gladly and felt that maybe things wouldn't be so bad, sure he had probably alienated his family but he'd made friends all of his own.

'Severus Snape' was the last name to be called out and Sirius rolled his eyes, sharing a grin with James and Remus.

Like with James the hat had no trouble with this sorting calling out 'Slytherin' and Snape pulled the hat off with a smug look on his face.

'What a surprise.' James said sarcastically before adding. 'Git!'

Lily Evans then shot James a look of pure hatred. She seemed genuinely upset by the outburst.

'How dare you! You don't even know him.' She said angrily. James turned towards her as if only just noticing her existence. Deciding it best to ignore her he turned back towards Sirius who leaned forward to speak to him.

'They'll have to wash the sorting hat before next year.' Sirius began with a smirk. 'otherwise the next person to wear it's gonna get a great lump of grease stuck to their head' He barked.

James roared with laughter and Sirius had managed to a laugh out of peter-which hadn't been there on the train to see the disagreement- and even a small chuckle out of Remus whose eyes were twinkling with laughter. Sirius got the distinct feeling that Remus was going to be hard to get out of his shell. But he also thought he was going to quite enjoy the challenge.

After eating so much that they all thought they might burst the feast ended and all the students headed up to their Common Room which was decorated with the house colours. They went up to their dormitory and Sirius was thankful to see that Remus had in fact been correct. All their luggage had been put in their room and all that was left now were to choose their beds.

Sirius-unlike the others-had chosen to pick his bed before getting his luggage and jumped forward taking the bed on the right hand side of the large window. James soon followed suit picking the one on the left hand side. Remus took the bed next to Sirius' with Peter taking the remaining bed on the other side of James'.

With a quick goodnight Remus went to bed looking tired but smiling none the less. Peter-assuming they were all going to bed-did the same and went to bed leaving Sirius and James to decide they still had room for a _few_ more sweets before bed and talking to the early hours of the morning.

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**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated :P**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	3. Chapter 3 Day 1 at Hogwarts

**I own absolutely nothing, everything belongs to JKR and whoever else has rights to it!!!**

When Sirius awoke the next morning it was with a loud groan. He turned towards the intruding noise to his left; he was going to throw whatever was closest at the evil, twisted little house elf. He sat up and only just realised in time that he was in fact in the Gryffindor dormitory and not his dark bedroom from No 12.

Pillow in hand he looked towards the maker of the noise, James potter was stood bent over his suitcase. He was throwing things out of his case; items flying in all directions in frenzy.

'What-'Sirius grumbled sleepily. 'Is your problem?'

'He can't find his other glasses.' Peter said from his bed.

'Other glasses?' Sirius asked.

'He knocked his glasses off the bedside table and then managed to stand on them as well.' He explained.

'So I'm looking for my other pair.' James said sounding frustrated.

Sirius climbed out of bed and was soon at James' side, peering into his suitcase.

'Stop, stop,' Sirius said pulling James' arms back. 'I'm assuming that without your glasses you're just feeling around for your other ones.'

'I'm not completely blind Sirius; I just don't have very good sight.'

'Well I'll look for them okay; at this rate even if you find them you'll likely break them.'

It didn't take Sirius very long to find them; they were tucked under a pair of socks, with the case at the side of them. He couldn't help think it rather ridiculous that he had put the two so close together without putting them in the case.

They had barely had time to grab a piece of toast before heading off to their first lesson-potions with Professor Slughorn.

Professor Slughorn set them into groups and encouraged them to research and find out all the items that would be needed in order to make a draught of living death.

They were set into groups of three: Sirius had been put with Remus and Lily Evans, and he found himself unable to help letting a laugh escape as James was partnered last and into the only group of two-the other member of the duo looked just as displeased by the choice as James. Choosing a table beside James' he leaned over to him.

'Hey James,' he said with a grin. 'Cheer up, if the grease comes alive and eats you I'll make sure you're not forgotten by our class mates.'

'Do you have to be so rude?' Lily cried unhappily, she had just sat down beside Remus looking disdainfully towards Sirius. Sirius had to admit she was beginning to get on his nerves, Snape was a git and James needed cheered up. He didn't see what it had to do with her anyway.

'Mind your own business.' James shot at her, clearly irritated by her interference.

'Sorry,' she replied rather snidely. 'I was under the impression that Slytherins were supposed to be the bullies;'

'Bugger off petal,' Sirius said in a rather bored tone.

'My name is Lily' she said through gritted teeth.

'Sure thing petal' He said, shooting a smirk at James who grinned back.

'Oh grow up!' she snapped before turning towards Remus. 'I pity you, you know. Having to share a dorm with those silly little boys '

The light haired boy looked awkward and was avoiding eye contact with them all, choosing instead to pretend to be paying close attention to his potions book, but the faint blush with obvious against the boys pale cheeks.

'Don't try to convert him.' James warned. 'He's our friend.'

'Oh for Merlin's sake, you're acting like a child.' She replied shortly. Remus was looking towards James with a look of surprise on his face and Sirius felt instantly guilty he hadn't made much effort to speak to Remus today and felt bad for doing so. After all Remus wasn't going to start the conversation was he, he was far too timid to initiate the conversation.

'Yeah, he's one of us petal,' he stated. 'I'm surprised your bothering to speak to anyone associated with bullies.' He shot testing her, but she merely rolled her eyes and began researching the potion.

'So ... how about we go for a wander once our classes are finished.' Sirius said encouragingly to Remus who looked up at his with wide eyes. 'If we're gonna spend the next seven years here then we may as well get to know our way about.' Then that small smile appeared just as it had the night before. Remus gave a quick nod of the head and James leaned forward pretending to pout.

'I'm so hurt Sirius, you didn't invite me on your exploration.'

'I figured you'd just invite yourself anyway you silly prat.' He laughed. James who wore a fake expression of hurt chose to stick his tongue out at Sirius' reply.

'Oh wow James, looks like petal was right-you are childish.' It was then the Sirius found himself the unexpected victim thrown book. Remus let out a real laugh for the first time and Sirius and James shared a smile. They'd have to keep the comedy act up, it seemed like it would be the best way to get Remus out of his shell and acting as ridiculous as Sirius was sure he and James would easily become.

The day was coming to an end and the four boys were sitting beside the lake. James had insisted that they invite Peter along, stating that he couldn't leave the only other member of their dorm out. Sirius wasn't too bothered by the boy's presence but didn't really feel much connection between them. Peter and James seemed to get on fairly well, by that he meant that Peter seemed fascinated with him. He still couldn't seem to wrap his head around being nice to people without reason, but he figured it was part of growing up as a member of the Black family. He'd grow out of it, he figured. But for now he was happy to simply sit listening to the other boys chatter and watching the sky.

He felt absurdly fascinated with the sky at that moment. He could see all the stars so clearly form here, unlike from his own house where he rarely got a good view if any at all of the stars. The moon was shining down of the lake, glittering in the water's reflection.

He let out a relaxed sigh; he couldn't remember a time where he had ever felt as peaceful as at that moment. Somehow the group had ended up all lying down on the grass staring up at the night sky but Sirius' mind was only fascinated with it for so long before it reminded him of his family-So obsessed with constellations and star names. It was then that he realised he couldn't even tell which one was Sirius.

Finding this idea rather funny he let out a laugh, causing the others to look at him as if he were insane.

'No worries I'm just amusing myself with my own thoughts.'

'Hey Sirius, you should probably get checked over in the hospital wing, i think you must have bumped your head or something.' James teased.

Sirius was quick to enact his revenge, chasing James around in circles on the grass before eventually managing to knock him over and begin rough-housing with the boy.

By the time the boys had reached their dormitory once more none of them had any energy left at all and all four went to bed without another word.

Sirius smiled to himself as he climbed under the red covers. This was his home now, and there was nothing that could possibly ruin it for him.

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**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**

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**Just want to say a big thanks to -mybloodsingstohim- and Chili loves you for their reviews, it means a lot to me :)**

**Reviews motivate me so the more reviews the better :)**


	4. Chapter 4 Sirius' Bad Day

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Oh how wrong Sirius was.

When he woke up the next day he had felt exhausted but at the same time he was truly happy. Remus-instead of leaving for breakfast alone like the day before-had chosen to wait for the other boys, and once they were all dressed and ready they had set out for the Great Hall.

It turned out that one of the positive points of being late the day before had been that he hadn't had the chance of meeting his cousins in the corridors.

Narcissa had stalked past him as if he was non-existent and to be honest Sirius had expected as much but he hadn't prepared for Bella who walked right up to him in the entrance hall before he had a chance of going in the Great Hall.

'You disgusting piece of filth.' She screeched angrily. 'Parading around in your Gryffindor uniform.' James stepped forward ready to defend his friend but Sirius pushed him back with an arm.

'This isn't your problem James, go eat.' But none of the boys moved.

'You're nothing more than a traitor, and disgrace to the noble house of Black. Things are changing' she warned. 'And the traitors will be the first to pay for their actions' she said in the deadly whisper before spitting straight in his face.

James whipped his wand out furiously but Sirius shook his head. 'Put it away James,' he sighed. They hadn't even learnt any spells yet, that and there was nothing he could do to take back her words. That was what hurt. It wasn't the fact the Bella hated him-he hadn't ever got on with her anyway-but the idea that his family must _really _hate him now...He felt sick.

Bella gave him one final look of disgust before heading into the Great Hall with the other Slytherins.

'Go have your breakfast,' Sirius said. 'I'll catch you lot up in a while, need to go wash my face.' He muttered, there was nothing more disgusting than having someone else's spit on his face.

When he got to the bathrooms he breathed a sigh of relief, there was no one else there and he was able to wash his face without being watched by others. He couldn't stand the amount of people that were always watching him simply because he was such a talked-about person right now. He didn't see what his family or his house had to do with anyone else. If people wanted to stare at him then he'd have to give them something to really stare about at.

'Sirius, are you in here?' A small voice called out at the door.

'Yeah I'm still here,' He replied coming into view. 'What's up?' he asked looking curiously towards the boy who was once again trying to use his fringe to over his face slightly.

'I...I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I mean, I wouldn't be if she'd done that to me. Do...do you know her?' Remus asked. Sirius gave a sigh and pushed himself up to sit on the windowsill.

'Yeah,' He admitted. 'Bellatrix...Bella, I'm lucky enough to have that lovely young women as my cousin.' He said sarcastically. 'She's right though, my whole family's reputation just got destroyed because of me. I'm going to get it when I go home for the holidays. My family aren't the type to send howlers and make a scene. They'll deal with it behind closed doors.' He suddenly realised he may have sad to much, after all his family clearly weren't as normal as he had thought and he had no reason to expect his home life to be normal either. 'Look just forget everything I said okay, it's not important.'

Remus gave a small sigh but nodded and hinted for them to leave the bathroom, and Sirius realised that Remus was not going to forget their conversation.

'Thanks by the way,' Sirius added at the door. 'You know, for checking on me.' It would take a while for him to get used to the kindness that Remus had shown him.

'That's what friends are for.' He replied with a smile and together they headed back down to the Great Hall to grab Breakfast.

The first class of the day was Defence Against the Dark Arts and once again Sirius found himself late for the first class of the day. He and Remus had apologised profoundly and taken their seats.

Their teacher was a tall, ageing man with thin grey hair that was in the midst of receding and he was wearing an expression that showed he was not impressed by their timekeeping skills-or lack thereof.

'Welcome, to your first lesson of Defence Against the Dark Arts. I am Professor Burse and during your first year you will be taught the basics. Now, today we will begin learning about vampires. Now, I assume you know what a vampire is?' The children in the room all nodded. 'Well, we'll see what gaps there are in your knowledge'

Sirius and Remus had been left to take seats at the front and Sirius groaned, the desk next to theirs was occupied by Lily Evans and Severus Snape.

'Late two days in a row Black? Tut tut, and at the start of term too.' Snape sneered.

'Terribly sorry, I'll try to be more like you Snape. Remus, when we go back up to the dormitories can you remind me to throw out my shampoo...I might be on time in the morning if I choose not to wash my hair.'

Snape turned red with anger and Remus had his head downturned looking uncomfortable with being involved in their squabble.

'Yes, well I won't lower myself to your level Black, after all it's understandable considering. I mean, being a disgrace to your entire family must be tough, I'd lash out at others if I was in your situation.'

Something snapped. Before he even realised what he was doing he had thrown himself at Snape knocking him into to Lily Evans who let out a high pitched shriek.

'Stop this ridiculous behaviour immediately!'Professor Burse shouted rushing forward-with James not far behind-to separate the two boys. He grabbed both boys by the collars and pushed them apart.

'This is not acceptable behaviour! I should have known you'd cause trouble!' He accused pointing a finger at Sirius. 'Late on the second day and causing an uproar in the school already.'

'That's not fair!' Sirius shouted back. 'It's not my fault that other people have a problem with me. The Slytherins hate me for disgracing them all by going in Gryffindor, and the rest of the school keeps their distance 'cus I'm a Black.'

'Don't take that tone with me Black, we're off to a bad start and I do not intend on letting you disrupt this class for the next seven years.'

'Professor,' Came a small voice from behind them. All eyes turned to the small form of Remus Lupin. 'They both said things they shouldn't have sir, but Sirius was provoked.'

But the Professor looked unsatisfied by this.

'Why am I not surprised by this, of all the people to befriend Black chose you. Well, I'm going to have to discuss this with Dumbledore you know; this is a classroom, a place of learning. I will not have this class disrupted, do you understand me?' He said clearly, the last sentence directed at the whole class.

Everyone was nodding their heads with wide eyes except Sirius who was glaring at the Professor.

'Do you understand Black?' he asked again, his face was turning red in frustration.

'Yes sir,' He replied reproachfully and with that the class went back to work in silence with only the Professors droning to be heard.

Once the Professor was far enough away as not to hear them Sirius leaned over to whisper to Remus.

'Thanks for having my back Remus.' He said giving him a genuine smile.

'Not that it helped much anyway.' Remus whispered back.

'Still, I'm grateful.' The two boys shared a smile before going back to their work.

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**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated :P**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	5. Chapter 5 Christmas Year 1

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Time at Hogwarts was going fast and it wasn't long before the Christmas holidays had arrived and the grounds were covered with a blanket of snow.

A letter had arrived a few days earlier to confirm Sirius' suspicions that the Black's did not want their son home for Christmas. Yet, Sirius was unsure how he felt about the whole situation. On the one hand he felt somewhat sad. He knew that it was because of _his _decisions that a rift had been caused in his family, but he had never spent Christmas without them. On the other hand, he was beginning to feel that Hogwarts was his home now.

However, he still felt slightly embarrassed by his family's rejection and had immediately put on a charade of how he had decided to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas-avoiding the suspicion in Remus' eyes at this news.

James had been much easier to convince of his sincerity. James may well be clever at classes but Sirius sometimes wondered how James had managed to become so oblivious to everything around him. Almost as if he lived in his own little world of good Vs evil, Gryffindor Vs Slytherin, he seemed to live in a fairytale world where bad things only happened to bad people and everything could be fixed with a hug.

'You kidding!' he had exclaimed to James forcing a grin onto his face and flopping down on to his four poster bed. 'I'd much rather be here than at home with that annoying little brat of a brother. I mean, I'll basically have the whole of Gryffindor Tower to myself.

At this James' eyes suddenly lit mischievously.

'Well, that does sound interesting.' He grinned.

'That it does Jamsie boy.' He teased, grabbing the other boys head in one arm and pretending he wouldn't let him go.

'Let go you daft twat.' James laughed happily and reaching up to tickle Sirius who left go immediately. 'You know, we should ask Peter and Remus if they fancy a bit of Christmas fun at Hogwarts.'

'That's a great idea!' Sirius shouted happily.

'Ssh, you'll wake the other's up.' James said laughing.

Unfortunately it turned out to be little more than a midnight idea. Remus was unable to stay as his parents preferred him to go home-Sirius didn't think was strictly true, he had a sneaking suspicion that Remus hadn't ever intended to stay anyway let alone asked his parents-and peter had already agreed to go visit his great grandfather for Christmas along with the rest of his family.

But luckily not all was lost for Sirius, James had begged, and begged, and eventually the Potters had given in and allowed him to spend the holidays at Hogwarts.

Once the other two boys had left for home Sirius found the dormitory to be almost empty looking. Sure, it was James and himself who made the bulk of the mess that covered the place-mostly James-the room seemed bare without Remus' books and quills and everything else that usually sat out of his bedside tables and the night was eerily quiet without Peter's snores echoing through the small room.

When Christmas day rolled around Sirius was awoken by an extremely over-excited James Potter whose hair was even more messy than usual. Sirius was beginning to wonder if that boy even owned a brush or even just a comb. He couldn't help but laugh at James' expression. He had the most idiotic expression of all time plastered across his face.

It was only when they reached the bottom of the stairs that Sirius' stomach dropped a notch. Would there be anything under the tree for him?

He was quite surprised to see that there was in fact presents under the tree for him. Not as many as usual but there was some all the same. He tore open the paper on his presents and was disappointed with the results-the presents were all more school supplies and a bunch of books on the dark arts along with a few items bearing the Black family crest. These weren't presents they were his parents' way of trying to bring their son back around into their way of thinking.

Pushing them to the side he sighed this was going to be such a rubbish Christmas. He looked up just in time to catch the end of James' pitying glance-seeing that Sirius had looked up James fixed a smile on his face and pushed a few more presents towards Sirius.

'That's ones from me and the other ones are from Remus and Peter.' He said brightly.

He quickly tore into the parcel-it was a rather large box that was filled with all sorts of exciting items. It had a divider down the middle with an assortment of exciting items in the each side including; Dungbombs and Instant Itch Ink (one drop and you'll be itching all day). He smiled a large grin.

'We could have a lot of fun with this stuff.' He suggested. But there was no reply from the boy who was staring into a box with a look of pure awe on his face.

'Jamsie' He teased trying to get the boy's attention. But it failed miserably and he jumped up heading to James' side. He peered down into the box and his jaw dropped open in shock.

'That's not what I think it is, is it?' He felt himself ask in astonishment.

The bespectacled boy took the material out of the box holding it gingerly in his hands.

'My…my grandfather sent me it. It's…it's an invisibility cloak.' He whispered handing a note to Sirius.

The note read: I have owned this cloak for as long as I care to remember, unfortunately I have grown old and with age I have realised I have little use for such an item. So I have passed it on to you. I hope you put it to good use and have as many adventures with it as I have. With love, granddad.

'Merlin's beard James.' Sirius whispered dropping the note. James suddenly dropped the cloak to the floor and threw his arms around Sirius happily. The two boys began jumping about with excitement. They could do so many things with this cloak.

'We need to put it to good use.' James said firmly.

'Well we can mix it with the stuff you got me and pull some pranks?' Sirius suggested.

'Deal,' we are going to be the greatest pranksters this school, nay the whole world has ever seen!' James shouted cheerfully.

'Deal,' Sirius agreed. 'But first…let's get us some Christmas dinner. After all we couldn't possibly prank to our greatest potential on empty stomachs.'

'Why of course.' James said bouncing towards the portrait hole-mind most likely full of all sorts of ideas.

It wasn't until they were half way to the Great Hall that he remembered his unopened presents from Remus and Peter. He would have more unwrapping to do when he returned and it was then that he realized that his day wasn't going to be so bad after all. Swinging an arm around James he gave the boy one of those big hugs he was so fond of.

'What's that for?' he asked suspiciously.

'For being the greatest friend I could ever ask for Jamsie boy' he replied before bolting down the corridor with a messy haired boy in tow.

'Stop calling me that!' he shouted. But there was no way Sirius could take him seriously because the boy was laughing as they ran through the corridors.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated :P**

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	6. Chapter 6 The First Prank

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

If anyone had walked into the first years boys dormitory they would have seen two excitable youths spread across one James Potter's bed with identical grins and mischievous eyes. They were currently lost in a conversation of possibilities and bent over a piece of parchment which they were using to take note of their ideas.

'Should we wait until the others get back?' James asked uncertainly.

'Well they won't be away much longer, and if we're going to put effort into a prank then we may as well have more people to view it.'

'True, true,' James said thoughtfully before his eyes lit up with excitement. 'I have it! If we wait until the new term starts then not only with we be able to show Remus and Peter, as well as getting a proper audience for our debut prank we'll also have the perfect person to use as our experiment.'

Sirius hadn't even begun to think of candidates to prank and now that James had mentioned it his mind seemed to have gone blank, he couldn't even think of a single name from their year, let alone any others.

James rolled his eyes at Sirius' slow trail of though.

'Snape,' the boy said, a cruel smirk planted on his face.

'You James are a genius.' Sirius replied delightfully.

The two boys had planned ahead and by the time the rest of the students had began arriving back from their holidays they had planned it down to the last detail.

'James? Sirius? Anybody here?' Remus asked when he walked into the dormitory.

'Remus!' They shouted happily from behind the Red bed hangings.

James had managed to get out first pulling Remus into a tight hug. Sirius fought the urge to laugh, James was a very over-affectionate fellow and Sirius and Remus both seemed to be the opposite, Preferring not to be physical with people. The Black's simply weren't an affectionate bunch and Sirius found it hard to adapt to James' regular physical contact.

Remus clearly struggled with it as well-although Sirius couldn't imagine why, it wasn't as if he had a horrible family like his.

'So how were your holidays?' Remus inquired. The boys shared a secret smile and Remus looked curiously towards them.

'What are you hiding?'

'Wish we could tell you Remus, but it's a surprise…no worries though, we'll make sure your there to see our debut.'

'Your what?' he laughed. 'I hope you're not planning on showcasing your singing abilities or lack thereof.' He laughed.

'Excuse me, what d'you mean Remus? I happen to be very talented in the singing department.' James said in mock offence.

The three boys erupted into laughter before James looked around curiously. 'Where's Peter?'

'No idea, I'm sure he won't take much longer to get here. I'm not sure when we separated actually; he was on the train anyway.'

'Never mind that' Sirius said with a grin. It's nearly time for lunch and we wouldn't want to miss that now would we.'

'Certainly not! Wouldn't dream of it.' James replied.

'Come on then Remus.' Sirius said nodding towards the door.

'I should probably unpack first…' He hesitated.

'Trust me; you want to go to lunch.' Sirius said pointedly.

'Okay okay, but only because you're clearly up to something and I'll kick myself if I don't find out what.'

When they entered the Great Hall it was only half full and Sirius was very impatient. He couldn't wait a moment longer.

'Who wouldn't want lunch as soon as getting off the train?' Sirius asked in an irritated tone.

'I don't know what you have planned James but you should have realised Sirius wouldn't be patient enough to go unnoticed by everyone.' Remus said to his friend with a small smile.

'Cut it out Sirius we don't want to look suspicious now, do we?' He said pointedly.

'Ooh, wait for it!' Sirius whispered excitedly to Remus as he looked towards the entrance door.

'Wait a minute.' James added. 'It has to be perfect timing.'

The two boys pulled out their wands and held them down low before muttering under their breath's 'wingardium leviosa' and Remus could only watch on as the other two boys flicked dungbombs out from under the Slytherin table and the dungbombs landed straight in front of an unsuspecting Severus Snape.

There was a shocked silence from most in the Great Hall as the dungbombs went off, that is of course not including the Slytherins who were making a hell of a lot of noise. Snape was shouting angrily at the others around him trying to figure out who had initiated the attack. By now the rest of the room had exploded into fits of laughter.

Sirius had never laughed so hard in his entire life, his stomach was knotted in pain from his laughing yet he didn't even want to stop. James was half off the bench now in laughter and Remus couldn't help but laugh at his friends prank.

Peter, who had turned out to be coming into the Great Hall at that point had ran over to the group immediately. But the smell was starting to spread and the group got up to leave the hall.

Students were informed that food would be sent to their respective common rooms and that was certainly the case. The food had already arrived by the time the group had reached Gryffindor Tower and they grabbed food before quickly heading up to their dormitory with it.

'That was amazing!' James shouted.

'I know did you see the look on his face?' Sirius choked out between laughs.

'Priceless' James declared.

'It was rather amusing.' Remus admitted with a chuckle. 'Although it was slightly harsh to specifically pull the prank on Snape.'

'No! The guys a git.' Sirius said shortly before smiling widely at Remus. 'And we worked on our charms just like you suggested.'

'What have I created?' Remus replied jokingly.

'A monster!' James screeched in fake terror. 'Of course we fully expect the two of you to join in on our next prank.' He added. Peter nodded wildly happy to be involved in the scheme.

'Next prank?' Remus asked weakly.

'Yup, we have a whole list of pranks we intend to pull before the school years out.' James said proudly.

'Okay, but, try not to focus solely on Snape otherwise it will become far too obvious who the culprits are.' He warned them.

'I swear!' James said.

'I solemnly swear we are up to no good!' Sirius shouted wildly.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated :P **

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	7. Chapter 7 Boredom and Tests

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

The term started again the next day and the first class of the day happened to be charms. The boys sat quite happily in a row discussing the previous night's antics. James and himself were sat in the middle of their group-as usual-and they were pleased to find that they were going to be continuing their practicing of Wingardium Leviosa.

Snape had a look of disgust on his face when this was announced causing their group to burst into a fit of giggles.

They had barely got ten minutes into the lesson before Sirius had grown bored. Now that he and James had perfected the spell there was little else for him to do. Sure they helped Remus and Peter out but Sirius had got Remus doing it correctly in no time and James was handling the task of teaching it to Peter.

His eyes wandered aimlessly around the room trying to conjure something to do out of thin air. He looked towards Snape, he was sitting next to Lily Evans and Sirius couldn't help but wonder why on earth they seemed to be friends. Firstly Evans was a muggleborn, not somthing Slytherins tended to be keen on and secondly she was a Gryffindor-surely she had more sense than to fraternize with a Slytherin.

So, what was a bored guy to do? Practice his charms like a good boy of course, with a quick whisper under his breath and a flick of his wand Snapes books toppled off the table unexpectedly.

Snape spun round in his seat with a look that was a mix between shock and anger. Sirius couldn't contain himself; grinning from ear to ear he gave Snape a small wave before turning away as if he had never done anything.

But it was too late; Remus has seen the whole thing and was giving Sirius an extremely disapproving look.

'You're going to get yourself in a lot of trouble you know.' He said shaking his head.

Sirius just gave a sigh.

'But Remus' he whined, 'I'm bored'.

'That doesn't mean you should taunt your classmates' Remus scolded lightly. 'Now, if you're that bored then practice your transfiguration skills.'

'Okay, okay' He found himself saying quickly, he didn't like to make Remus look disappointed.

They continued on to their next lesson, flying.

Today they were going to be tested on all the skills they had learnt so far and the test was taking place on the Quidditch pitch. Sirius didn't mind flying, he found it to be quite enjoyable-unlike Remus who seemed to hate it with a passion-I mean sure, he was no James, but he was still fairly good.

The class were all hovering in the air waiting to be tested one at a time. Sirius and James had gotten bored and were chasing each other in circles, it was impossible for Sirius to catch James though; he simply swerved or looped out of the way in strange twists and unexpected turns. Peter was laughing loudly, causing the other students to keep turning to watch the two boys.

It wasn't until James' name got called that the games stopped. Sirius made his way back to where Remus and Peter were hovering. They both looked quite nervous at the prospect of being tested on their flying skills.

'Don't worry,' Sirius said flippantly. 'If you fall off I'll catch you, I can be a knight in shining armour and everything.' he joked lightly.' He got the reaction he wanted from Remus, a small chuckle and a slightly less stressed out Remus. However, it had had the opposite effect on Peter who had turned even paler and was looking as if he might be sick. Peter did not like flying, more so than even Remus, and Sirius' comment had made him paranoid that he would fall off his broom.

As expected James had managed all the turns, the small dive, the ascending and descending and had even managed to finish in less than half the time off all the others who had done the test so far.

'Sirius Black' The teacher called.

'That's me off.' Sirius told the two boys light-heartedly. He flew past James on the way to the starting point and gave him a light shove. 'Wow James, way to make the next person look rubbish, oh yeah, I'm the next person!' The two boys shared a laugh before Sirius reached the starting point.

The teacher blew the starting whistle and Sirius leaned forward flying as fast as he could. He flew straight towards the hoops as they had been told to. He ascended quickly before going into a dive straight through the centre of the hoop. He then turned and circled the hoop before descending once more and taking a quick lap around the pitch before stopping just short of the teacher.

'When exactly, did I say lapping the pitch was part of your flying test?' She asked haughtily.

'Sorry,' Sirius replied half-heartedly. 'I guess I just got caught up in the rush.' He explained simply before heading over to the group. Peter who was next in line headed towards the starting point, sweaty and breathless.

'Poor guy,' James commented. 'He's really got his self worked up.'

'It's only a flying test, I mean; it's not a big deal.' Sirius said.

'It's only not a big deal to you because you're a good flyer though.' Remus added in. 'Otherwise you'd be just as nervous as us.' he said defending the boy.

'Nervous isn't in my vocabulary Remus' Sirius said with a lopsided grin. Remus didn't reply but continued to watch as Peter did the test at the slowest pace possible. By the time he had finished Remus' face was pure white and his hands were shaking slightly as he held tightly onto his broom.

'You'll be fine Remus, just try not to think too much about it' Sirius said softly, Remus gave him a small shaky smile before moving forward to begin.

Remus was a bit faster than Peter but his flying was shakier by far. He struggled to make the turns and for a brief moment Sirius had been horrified when Remus had came close to hitting the hoop.

When the whole class was back on the ground he couldn't tell who was more relieved, Remus or himself. Sirius made a mental note that he would have to teach Remus to fly properly.

'I'm so glad that's over!' Peter squeaked. 'It's definitely the worst class by far'

Sirius watched as James threw an arm around Remus, smile on his face, he was glad that James could offer their friend comfort in a physical form. Even he himself wasn't entirely comfortable in doing so. Even a one armed hug was difficult for Sirius.

'Onto potions' James said with a sigh. But he looked towards Peter expectedly. James had gotten what he wanted, the beady eyed boy seemed to cheer up. Potions was the one class that Peter seemed to be quite good in. The class had been split into pairs of two early on in the year. Peter had been partnered with Lily Evans, who happened to be extremely talented at potions and together they had become the best group in the class.

This was just ahead of Snape and James who had been put together unexpectedly. This was particularly a sore point for Snape who-if paired with anyone but James who was easily the worst at potions-would have outshone the rest of the class no problem.

Sirius didn't like the class for the most part but he was partnered with Remus, so they didn't tend to have too many problems as they were both fairly competent at the subject.

'Personally, I can't wait until classes are over...after all that flying I'm starving!' He exclaimed. James rolled his eyes at the boys before leading them down into the dungeons.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated :P **

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	8. Chapter 8 Moonlight and Boils

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius Black had never been so bored in his entire life. He currently sitting beneath a large tree that the group had become weirdly attached to, spending their spare time sitting in the tree's shade during these warmer months.

But not now, no, now he was sitting beneath the tree despite the fact that there was no light to take shade from. It was night time and he was sitting alone and completely bored.

James was currently in detention for burning Severus Snape by knocking their cauldron over in Potions. The irony being that it actually was an accident unlike most of the things which he hadn't got detention for. But Professor Slughorn, knowing the troubles between the two had assumed it to be a deliberate act.

Then there was Remus who had left school to go visit his sick mother, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly was wrong with his mother. It must be something fairly serious for it to be recurring so often.

He gave a sigh; Peter hadn't wanted to risk detention by sneaking out into the grounds at night. But Sirius was willing to bet he would have done so if it had been James' idea. The boy followed James around the bloody sheep.

So now Sirius was left to sit alone in the cool breeze with nothing to but stare wonderingly up at the stars, he needed to look constellations up in the library, he thought to himself. He wanted to know which one was Sirius. He chuckled aloud to himself, if James had been here he would have made a joke about his being a star.

He seriously needed to have some ideas ready for times when James got detention; detention wasn't actually that bad when they were both in it together. It actually went really fast and sometimes allowed them to be taken to parts of the school they had yet encountered. That was always fun, like a miniature Hogwarts adventure. Exploring had become a past time of their little group, finding new parts of the school to explore and often gaining new ideas of pranks or schemes.

His eyes trailed towards the Forbidden Forrest. They had been told on their first night at the sorting feast that nobody was to enter it and that it contained many dangers. He wondered how dangerous it really was, I mean…everyone knew there weren't any dragons nearby and there clearly weren't giants in it. He was actually quite fascinated by magical creatures and wondered if they would really be in danger if they went in there. Surely under James' cloak they would go unnoticed by the creatures; perhaps they could even get up close to them.

It was then that a long drawn out howl sounded throughout the grounds. It must be coming from the Forbidden Forrest he assumed before staring up towards the sky once more, the full moon was glowing brightly in the clear sky.

He thought of the howl once more-almost hearing it again in his mind-, and his thoughts drifted to his family. They were in league with all sorts of dark people, including werewolves. He gave an involuntary shudder as he thought of being near such a creature, maybe the Forbidden Forrest wasn't such a good idea after all…he hadn't thought about the possibility of werewolves being so close by. An invisibility cloak would do nothing to hide them from such a creature.

Thinking of the cloak he realised that James would soon be finished detention and began to make his way up to the school and to Gryffindor Tower.

Sure enough James had not had a particularly good detention.

'I swear, he made me clean out every single cauldron he could fine!' the bespectacled boy complained loudly. 'Cauldron number seventeen gave me these!' he said thrusting his fingers up close to Sirius' face. His fingers were covered in some form of boils in odd colours.

'You should probably get that looked at' Peter had said worriedly.

'Who turned you into Remus' Sirius joked but the comment caused Peter to blush slightly and look awkward which Sirius had not intended. He had merely meant that it was usually Remus who reminded them of the sensible options.

Peter was now avoiding eye contact with Sirius and he felt himself give a small sigh, Peter constantly seemed to misinterpret his words and actions and Sirius felt like there was a rift between them, something which was not good for a group's atmosphere.

'If they are still there in the morning then I'll get them looked at. Right now all I want to do is spend some time with my best friends...it won't be long before we're off for the summer and split apart for weeks on end.'

'Oh Merlin' Sirius groaned 'don't depress me James.' He hadn't thought about that yet, he was going to be home soon with a family who would most likely hate him. He could just imagine his brother's stupid smirk, he would be the favourite now and his parents would have all their hopes pushed on the small boy's shoulders.

'Come off it Sirius, it won't be that bad...sure it'll be awkward but...well, you can stay at mine for the second half. I'll have all three of you over for a bit. We'll have a great laugh Sirius.' He was saying enthusiastically as they reached their dorm and got comfy on James' bed. 'We can go to Quidditch matches, the beach, I live near a bit of woodland as well-ever camped out before?'

Sirius grinned back, letting James continue on for a few hours, he simply had to add in a nod every so often. But Sirius felt a small ache in his chest as James rambled excitedly. There was no doubt in his mind whatsoever that there was no point in James plans, his family weren't going to give him permission to go off on a mini-holiday to the Potter's household. They'd most likely use the summer as an attempt turn him into some all-evil psycho like the rest of his family. This summer was going to be the worst of his life so far.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	9. Chapter 9 'Home' for the Summer

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

The whole journey from Hogwarts to platform 9 and ¾ was as a whole, depressing and lonely. Sure, he was surrounded by the three best friends in the world but he still felt isolated a lonesome. Yes he was sitting next to James who was prattling on about Merlin only knows what but he may as well have been on the other side of the planet for all the difference it would have made.

In reality he knew that he should be joking and laughing and simply enjoying the time that he had left with his friends but he couldn't bring himself to interact with them as if he was going to come to James' house during the holidays. As if he was planning on seeing any of them before September the First. He wanted nothing more than to go back to Hogwarts and curl up in his bed with the idea that his friends would be there; loud and joyful and annoying all in one. He wanted nothing more than to get away from the summer and pretend he had no family.

When they got off the train he wondered how exactly he was getting home. He didn't know who was picking him up-if anyone-and he could do little more than drag his suitcase onto the platform and hope for the best.

That was when Sirius saw him, Kreacher the family house elf.

He gave his friends and weak smile and a wave before moving towards the house elf but was stopped short by James who threw an arm around him in a one-armed hug.

'See you soon Sirius.' He said in an attempt at a positive voice.

'Sure thing James,' he replied half-heartedly as James walked towards his parents with a pitying look on his face.

'Kreacher is here to collect young Master Black.' He drawled.

'Well, no point in delaying the inevitable.' Sirius joked lightly. But he had forgotten that there was no room for jokes in their household and he would gain no laughs only anger.

'Horrid brat, ruining the family name, oh how displeased my Mistress will be to see such a blemish on her noble name.' The house elf muttered. Sirius felt his stomach drop painfully. This was going to be a long summer he thought and with one final look towards the train that had taken him to the happiest place in the world.

*****

'Sirius,' Regulus said formally when they passed in the hallway as he entered his old home. He couldn't help but feel sorry for his younger brother, Regulus didn't realise what he was going to miss out on by being their family's perfect little boy.

'Your father wishes to see you Master Black.' Kreacher told him and Sirius was sure he had seen an excited glint in the house elf's eyes.

Sirius walked forward to his father's personal study and gave a small knock on the door, waiting patiently for an answer.

'Come in.' Orion Black's voice said quietly. Sirius did as he was told and entered, closing the door quietly behind him. He stood in silence waiting for Orion to begin their conversation. He turned slowly away from the glowing fire to face his sun.

Orion like all the other members of the Black family had an air of casual elegance about him. Like Sirius his presence demanded the attention of all those about him, capturing their interest with ease. He, like Sirius, had dark black hair and Sirius felt slightly frightened by his father who looked far more serious than even Sirius had ever seen him.

'I suppose you thought it was funny, you being sorted into Gryffindor. Do you realise what embarrassment you have been to this family. You tainted our family's reputation in one night.' He said coldly and Sirius found himself immediately saying whatever he thought would get him out of the current situation.

'I don't know why I was sorted into Gryffindor father. I never asked for it to happen, It was beyond my control I swear. I would never do anything to disappoint you or mother intentionally. If I could change it I would have.' He said in a quiet voice to avoid angering his father. His father seemed unimpressed but did not push the matter further.

'You may retire to your room now.' He said turning back towards the fire thoughtfully.

'Thank you father.' He replied politely.

As soon as he was out of the room he rushed towards the stairs and up to his room. Once inside he took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves-He was physically shaking-Get a grip of yourself, he thought bitterly. You're supposed to be a Gryffindor Sirius! It was then that Regulus entered the room-black hair hanging slightly in front of his face, his brothers fringe clearly in need of a haircut-with the pretention of borrowing some ink, it was clear that he simply wanted to see the effect of his discussion with their father. He most likely had hoped Sirius would get a fair beating. But Regulus was wrong, if he had done that then Sirius would have faced the worst and have nothing to fear. His father was not an idiot; he liked the power of having the threat of a beating hanging over Sirius. It gave Sirius something to fear, it was something to keep him in line, and Sirius knew it.

He handed the ink pot to his brother.

'Hogwarts is a nice place you know,' Sirius said in an off-handed. 'I'm sure you'll like it there when you attend.' He added trying to strike up conversation, maybe if he got on better with Regulus then he too would see that it was better to be in Gryffindor and he might just make the right decisions when he joined Hogwarts.

Regulus opened his mouth and looked as if he was going to reply before thinking better of it and walking out the room without another word to him. Sirius sighed at his brother's retreating back...he had tried, there was little more he could do to make his brother see sense.

He then changed out of his day clothes and climbed into his bed. Curling up in his bed he pulled the cover high up over his head and imagined the times at Hogwarts when the group had sat beneath James covers whispering away into the night. He sighed, thinking back on his conversation with his father in the study. And he wondered loosely when he had gotten so good a lying, or whether his father just avoided pressing the matter. However, that seemed unlikely as his father would quite simply press the conversation just to enforce the fact that he was in charge of the household. He supposed that his skills at lying were down to James considering that he had never been one for lying before he had met his black haired friend.

He tucked his head into his pillows; he had forgotten what it was like to have far more pillows than possibly needed. It would take some getting used to he figured. He turned the top pillow over so that he could feel the cold side on his face as he glanced out of his window up at the constellations scattered across the velvet sky. He felt somewhat comforted by the fact that somewhere, out there, his friends were sleeping beneath the same stars, that they too might be gazing out upon them and that once the summer was over...he and his friends would be re-united and he wouldn't need to return to this god-forsaken place until the next summer came around.

For the first time in his life Sirius wanted nothing more than a simple hug. Maybe James' apparent need for physical comfort wasn't so strange after all...

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Once again I want to say: Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**I can honestly say I appreciate every single review. I read them all and they make such a big difference in terms of keeping me motivated. I've actually surprised myself at how much I have gotten into this fic and intend to make my reviewers patience worth the effort.**

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	10. Chapter 10 Missing

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

By the time September had come Sirius felt as if his soul had been pulled long and thin. He felt lifeless, as if all the previous joy and laughter he had felt whilst at Hogwarts had been a dream of sorts or to be more precise it felt as if he had merely stood at a window and watched in on someone else's life. Taking small glimpses into a life of happiness.

The scarlet engine, the bubble of noise and the mix of students young and old, bearing all their house colours were lively and vibrant. They stood out brightly as if screaming 'welcome back' at him.

'Sirius!' a voice shouted somewhere behind him, he turned quickly straining to see over the taller students. He was still peering over the various people surrounding him when he felt himself being pulled into a tight hug by the long thin arms of James Potter. 'You didn't come to stay!' the boy complained loudly while crossing his arms in a pretend huff.

'Sorry James,' he said earnestly. 'The family were being gits and I didn't really want to push them on the whole idea.' He said somewhat awkwardly, but with a smile still splashed across his face. 'Where are the others?'

'No idea, but I sent them letters to say we should meet in the same compartment we came home in.' Sirius immediately felt a small weight in his chest at these words. That wasn't what he would call the place he had spent the last-however horribly long it was-in. Home… As far as he was concerned Hogwarts his home now, a real home, where he felt safe and happy and…wanted.

The two boys climbed aboard side by side and made their way along the carriage.

When they reached their destination they found Peter staring out the window and onto the platform.

'Pete!' James exclaimed happily before pulling the boy into a quick hug.

'Hey' he squeaked as he was pulled into the hug. Unlike James and himself Peter seemed not to have grown at all during the summer, he was little different from when they had first met him a year previous.

It wasn't until they were twenty minutes into the journey that Sirius began to feel slightly worried, their scarred younger friend had yet to make an appearance and he found himself staring at the door every few minutes as if willing Remus to walk through it.

'Where is he?' Sirius finally voiced unhappily.

'I was just beginning to think maybe we should look for him…' James said uncomfortably.

'What if he comes here and we're gone though?' Peter asked.

'Well you stay here Peter and we'll look for him.' James said in a business-like manner. 'I'll head left and you head right and we can meet back here.' Sirius nodded in confirmation and the two boys set out in opposite directions.

He went from compartment to compartment looking through the glass in each door. It wasn't long before Sirius had searched his entire side and was met by James a short way from their own compartment.

'Any sign of Remus?' James asked but Sirius could see in his eyes that the bespectacled boy already knew the answer.

'No, you?' he asked pointlessly, to which James shook his head.

The two boys sat down in their compartment once more, all three boys' minds elsewhere as they looked out onto the speeding countryside.

They were in fact so distracted that they had to be asked three times before they realized that the lady who pushed the food trolley was staring at them awaiting an answer. Sirius got up, purchasing himself a bunch of chocolate frogs and returning to his seat whilst James and Peter bought a small box of every flavored beans between them.

When they got off the train Sirius couldn't help but watch the smaller students heading off towards the boat with a small smile. The first years were taking the first step of a big adventure and didn't even realise it.

Sirius couldn't concentrate at all during the sorting ceremony, fidgeting and clapping unenthusiastically. Even once the sorting was over and the feast began their small group sat in an unusual silence gaining the attention of Lily Evans who was watching them with curiosity.

'What's this?' she asked jokingly. 'I didn't think the three of you could eat at any speed but a hundred miles an hour.'

'Go away Evans.' Sirius said in an irritated voice. But she ignored him and sat down next to James.

'Where's Remus?' she continued in a quieter voice. 'Loads of people have noticed, I mean it's not like people wouldn't notice considering how quiet you all are.'

'We don't know.' James said shortly.

'So you can go gossip with the rest of the vultures.' Sirius said bitterly. He was worried enough as it was, and the last thing he needed was annoying girls like Lily Evans sticking their nose in.

Lily gave Sirius a reproachful look before heading back to sit with her dorm mates.

'That was harsh Sirius,' James said with a look towards Lily. 'She was only trying to get info to set them all straight.'

'Yeah, well I don't care she can keep out of stuff that isn't her business.'

'Don't take it out on other people Sirius,' James whispered softly. 'I know you're worried, so am I trust me. But it's not Lily's fault.' Sirius didn't even bother to reply. When did James suddenly become Evans' best friend anyways, he though bitterly. He found that he didn't have much appetite that night, eating little to nothing as he waited for the feast to end.

When the feast was over Sirius and the other two boys hung behind slightly waiting for the other students to disperse a bit before walking towards the teachers' table.

'Professor!' Sirius began boldly as he reached Professor McGonagall- Gryffindor's Head of House.

'Yes, Mr Black?' she replied.

'If you don't mind our asking Professor-' James said politely.

'-Where's Remus?' Sirius cut in curtly.

'I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss that matter with you boys.'

'But-'

'Rest assured that Mr Lupin will be with you in a few days time. Now if that's all you wished to discuss then you boys should head back up to your dormitory. I trust that you boys will be having an early night before the start of the new school term.' She said sternly.

'Yes Professor McGonagall.' The three boys chorused.

They then did as they were told and headed up to their dormitory. Like the year before their trunks were all sat neatly in their dorm and Sirius grabbed his own trunk half-heartedly and pulled it towards his bed. He was quite relieved that James and Peter had taken the beds in their usual places-it was going to be strange enough without Remus as it was. The last thing he needed was to turn over and see one of the others in Remus' place.

Sirius told the other two he wanted an early night and proceeded to climb into his bed-drawing the hangings around his bed.

He hadn't been there too long before he heard a small tap on the wooden frame of his four poster bed. Sitting up Sirius drew back the hangings to find his messy haired friend with a small smile on his face.

'Mind if I come in?' Sirius gave a small smile back and shook his head.

Climbing in James sat on the end of the bed and looked towards him before reaching forward and giving Sirius his second hug of the day.

Sirius found that hugs weren't as awkward a situation as they once were and that he'd grown to appreciate his friend's behavior. He gave a small sigh;

'Sorry for earlier James, your right I was being a git to Lily. I was just…I dunno frustrated cus I was so impatient to see you guys and then…you weren't all there.'

'No worries, you're just more impulsive than I am.' James replied with a shrug. 'I felt pretty stressed myself.' He admitted. 'I just wanted to make sure you were alright…I mean…your probably as close to Remus as you are to me.'

Sirius let out a small laugh, he wouldn't quite go that far…sure he was a bit protective of Remus and they spent a lot of time together but James was his best friend. His first ever friend and he didn't think anyone else could really come close in terms of friendship.

'You're still my best friend James,' Sirius said softly. 'and once Remus is back we can get started on those prank ideas again huh.' He grinned wildly.

'Sure thing Sirius.' James replied. 'I'm gonna get some sleep okay, see you in the morning.' And in an instant James was gone again, but Sirius turned over content with ideas of their future pranks. Remus would be back before long and the group could settle back down again, he just had to be patient. But for Sirius Black that was no small feat!

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	11. Chapter 11 Good Morning Indeed

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

It was the third day into term and Sirius had awoken to the sound of silence, he figured Peter must have gotten up early to start on their first assignment of the year-what it was he wasn't entirely sure, although he knew it was for Defence Against the Dark Arts-The fact that Sirius was actually awake was an unusual occurrence Sirius was normally the last of the group to wake up – and usually only at being shaken into to consciousness by one of the other boys-he lay there not entirely sure what to do. He had a routine after all-a badly coordinated one, but a routine none the less.

Deciding he may as well get up no he pulled back the red hangings and hopped out of his bed. Hell, at this rate he might even be one time for classes without running he thought amusedly. Then it hit him, he could have a lot of fun from this situation.

'Oh James,' Sirius called out in a sing-song voice whilst pulling back James' hangings he grinned wildly. But the idiot was fast asleep, hair even more hilarious than usual.

'James mate, you've slept in!' he shouted giving the boy a rough shake.

'Wha-' he replied groggily before pushing his face down into his pillow grumpily.

'James!' he shouted louder this time to get his full attention. 'It's five to nine! Peter's gone and everything...listen, no snoring-see point proved.'

'What!' James hollered in alarm. 'Oh crap! Why didn't he wake us up the stupid moron!' he jumped out of bed quicker than a flash of lightning and rushed to the end of his bed where he had discarded his clothes the previous day. It wasn't until James was fully dressed and ready to bolt out the dormitory that Sirius erupted into hysterical laughter causing James to stare at him as if he had gone completely insane. 'Hurry up Sirius you git, we're barely back and majorly late! We're going to get detention already and believe me my parents don't find it amusing.'

'What time is it now James?' Sirius asked in fake innocence. The tired looking boy pulled back his sleeve to answer and looked up at Sirius with a mix of horror and shock.

'Six-Thirty.' He said simply before realisation crossed his face. 'Six-thirty...Six-thirty! Sirius I'm going to kill you!' he roared before lunging forwards and wrestling Sirius to the ground.

Sirius had just managed to gain the advantage, and was pinning James down before laughing hysterically.

'You are so gullible Potter!' he declared triumphantly.

'What in Merlin's name are you two doing wrestling around at half past six in the morning?' Remus laughed from the doorway.

Sirius immediately lost his concentration looking up at Remus who was watching them curiously from the doorway, Peter just behind him.

James took advantage of the situation, flipping Sirius over onto his back.

'Hah' he exclaimed with a grin. But Sirius shoved the boy off with a laugh before heading towards Remus and pulling the boy into a tight hug. He wasn't entirely sure who was more surprised by this action, Remus or himself. James had clearly been more influential on Sirius than either of the two boys had realised and Sirius was finding that he was beginning to quite like the job of giving and receiving hugs.

Remus blushed slightly, he clearly hadn't been given quite enough hugs from James to feel entirely comfortable with it yet, but hell, Sirius wasn't entirely used to it yet either.

'We missed you like made Remus!' James exclaimed moving forward and throwing his arms around the other two boys. 'Come on Pete' he added with a grin. 'Group hug people!'

Peter moved forward looking delighted to be involved in the group hug. Sirius looked down upon his friends softly, wishing he could stay like this forever.

'Yeah Remus' Pete agreed nodding his head wildly. 'It's been really weird without you; we were really confused when you didn't turn up on the train.'

'Yeah, searched it from top to bottom we did!' James nodded. 'Sirius 'bout killed Evans for asking where you were, you know.' He laughed.

Remus gave a weak chuckle, looking nervous as the group pulled apart from their hug.

'I'm sorry...I should have sent one of you a letter explaining...'

'Too late to change it now I suppose.' James said with a shrug. 'Where were you anyway?' Once again Remus looked nervous and Sirius felt he should intervene.

'Give him a minute to get in the bloody dorm James.' He said with a grin and Remus gave him a small smile mouthing 'thank you' to him in a somewhat awkward fashion.

Their group had shocked Professor Slughorn tremendously by arriving for potions ten minutes early. He had let them into the classroom straight away and they had had the chance to sit and chat before the other students arrived and the class split into its normal pairs.

Sirius sat down next to Remus feeling the happiest he had since coming back to Hogwarts. He had all his friends, his classes were fairly simple since it was still the first week and he hadn't been unfortunate enough to have had a conversation-or more likely a slag off-with Severus Snape. Although he assumed it couldn't be too far off considering James had gotten an early wakeup call and was quite tied.

'So,' Sirius began softly to his scarred friend. 'Why weren't you on the train with the rest of us?'

'I uh...' but he stopped awkwardly and Sirius could quite easily see why. All the students who were sat near them were clearly nosing in on their conversation. Sirius gave a growl of annoyance before shaking it off and giving his friend a roll of the eyes.

'We can talk later once we're away from the vultures.' He said loudly, adding in the vulture part solely for Lily Evans to hear. As expected she blushed wildly and gave him a look of complete hatred. He could quite easily say that Lily was the most annoying person in the whole of Gryffindor, and second in the year next to the snivelling Severus Snape who was currently complaining to Professor Slughorn that he wanted a different partner, claiming that it was unfair to be subjected to a partnering with someone who wouldn't know the difference between using a pewter cauldron and a brass cauldron in the art of potion making. What the difference was that it made to a potion Sirius would never know, let alone care. It was then that Sirius held his breath as Slughorn said he would consider swapping groups about.

If he got swapped with James he would never forgive him. The idea of spending every potions class with Snape was not something he liked the idea of whatsoever.

'Don't worry; he's not likely to put you with Snape.' Remus said lightly. 'He knows that the two of you would end up deliberately trying to poison each other.' The boy added with a chuckle. Sirius laughed back before realising that it was the first time he could think of that Remus had said something with the intention of making him laugh. Maybe Remus truly would come out of his shell once and for all this year.

'Now remember pupils, next week we will be making hair growth potion and remember I will not tolerate any students messing about during our potion making.' Slughorn warned looking from James to Sirius who were looking at each other with grins.

The next class to attend was Herbology and Sirius found himself calling to James that he and Remus would catch up with the other in a few minutes.

'So, now that we're not surrounded by the gossip grabbers' he joked lightly. Remus gave a sigh, as if he had thought that he had successfully avoided the conversation.

'I wasn't on the train because I had to attend a funeral on the first of September.' He said in an emotionless tone, as if he had been thinking the sentence out continuous times before saying it aloud.

'Oh,' Sirius said feeling terrible for bringing it up. 'Sorry Remus, I didn't realise.'

'Don't feel sorry Sirius.' Remus pleaded sadly, there's really no need...'

'I shouldn't have brought it up though.' Sirius insisted.

'You know, I'd never had any friends before I came to Hogwarts.' Remus admitted. 'and you really are the best friend I could possibly of wished for Sirius.' He said with a somewhat sad smile. Sirius could see guilt in his friend's eyes and it made him extremely uncomfortable. What could Remus possibly have to feel guilty about?

'I'll let you in on a secret Remus.' He replied warmly and he watched as Remus' eyes twinkle with curiosity. 'I never had any friends before Hogwarts either, I don't really get on well with my family either so you guys are the closest thing to a proper family that I've got' He felt slightly strange about saying it out loud to someone but he had thought like that for a while now. Remus smiled back and put an arm around Sirius giving him a small one-armed hug before pulling his arm back again so quickly that Sirius wondered if it had really happened.

'Well, I'm sorry if I worried you guys with my disappearing act.' Remus added quickly before they headed into the Herbology greenhouses.

It was then Sirius realised that Remus' disappearing act wasn't the first to happen...he had often left school without a proper explanation and Sirius had excepted his excuses without question after all, it was Remus, he wasn't the type to lie about anything was he. But now that he thought about it Remus had been gone far too many times for it to simply be a coincidence.

As they sat down he suddenly felt like he had a heavy weight on his shoulders. Why was Remus away so often, surely his family couldn't be that unlucky that things were always wrong with them. There was only two options as far as Sirius was concerned: either something was seriously wrong with his mother who had been ill on many occasion according to Remus or Remus was completely lying to them about why he had been leaving school so often.

One the one hand, Sirius felt it wasn't really his business to know but on the other hand, Remus was important to him and he wanted to help Remus with whatever the problem was.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	12. Chapter 12 Pranks and Quidditch

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius had spent the last two months watching Remus closely and trying to make things fit together.

The start of term was not the only time Remus hadn't been around; he had disappeared twice more, once in October and once again in November.

Sirius had found that shortly before Remus left on each occasion that Remus looked pale and tired. He had taken a note of the dates that Remus had been gone on each trip...but as of yet he hadn't found anything that could link those dates to anything in the outside world.

Another thing which he had done was to go in the library and search through copies of the daily prophet. He had checked the papers from August the first until September the 15th. There had been no mention whatsoever of any deaths that he could link to Remus. The only problem with this idea was that he didn't know Remus well enough to know if there were any muggle relatives in his family. If so then the information wouldn't necessarily be in the daily prophet.

He was now laying on his front beside the large fire in the Common Room; he had found that watching the fire crackle was quite a relaxing activity. James had mentioned on many occasions that Sirius looked extremely strange when he was staring into the fireplace. But Sirius wasn't really staring, most of the time he was just so deep in thought that he wasn't all that aware of surroundings, or whatever he happened to be staring at. This was why he had resorted to staring at the fire in the first place, at least that way he was unlikely to creep out a random student by apparently staring at them.

'Sirius,' James began in that kind of floating tone his friend tended to adopt after long periods of thought. 'We need to think of nicknames for each other...it's far to annoying to say Sirius all the time. I mean it's okay with Pete cus he's already been shortened but with you two it's kinda of tiring.

'You do realise that your name and my name are only a letter apart right?' he replied teasingly. 'I don't mind calling you James it's not the big a deal really.'

'Yeah, but your my friends I should get to call you something different from every other randomer in the school.' He replied trying to reason with him.

'Well, you can think of something while we go for a walk.'

'Where are we going?'

'Dunno, to set off some dungbombs? May as well, they're expired soon.' James seemed to accept this as a good excuse and got up quickly from his place of the cushioned couch. He held a hand out to pull Sirius up off the floor and Peter stood up quickly, ready to get in on the pranking. Remus gave a small sigh.

'I'm assuming we're going to try to find the Slytherin Common Room again.' Remus asked.

'Nah, we need to think of new places to prank...otherwise it's too expected.' James reasoned with the group. The others agreed with him on that idea and together the group snuck out beneath James' invisibility cloak.

'So...where to?' James whispered once they were on the grand staircase.

'Well, we could always go past Flich's office.' Sirius suggested with a wide grin.

'Yes, that does sound like a good idea.' James replied devilishly. 'He doesn't seem to like us very much though, does he?' James pretended to pout.

'No he doesn't.' Sirius agreed. 'Maybe, maybe he just needs to loosen up a bit, now what makes you laugh Jamsie?' James pretended to think carefully about it before replying.

'Dungbombs.' He grinned.

As expected Filch had been less than impressed with the group's attempt to "loosen him up" and hadn't been very happy about the new smell that lingered outside his office. Upon hearing the noise Filch had come rushing out determined to capture the culprit of the unexpected attack.

By the time the boys had returned back to their dormitory they had been is such pain from laughing that they had all collapsed into a heap on James' bed.

'The look on his face!' Sirius barked out loudly.

'I'll catch you, you rotten brats!' James hollered in imitation causing the other to burst into a fit of laughter once more.

When later asked Sirius would quite easily have stated that he couldn't even remember falling asleep the previous night. He had been blissfully unaware that he was about to be rudely awoken when he had felt the sudden impact of a knee in his stomach.

He gave an incontrollable gasp as the dug into his stomach before managing to shove his black haired friend away.

'What the hell James!' he shouted angrily. His bespectacled friend looked slightly sorry for what had happened; he had jumped on Sirius on hopes in waking him up.

'Sorry Siri,' he said in a cheerful voice and Sirius felt he wanted to knock the boy straight off the bed. He was currently lying in James' bed after apparently fallen asleep there the night before and James bouncing up and down on the bed in an excitable fashion.

'Whoa there James, you been helping yourself to too many every flavoured beans before breakfast.' He teased.

'No! I am simply happy, because today is the day that my journey to fame and fortune begins!' he exclaimed proudly, jumping around animatedly.

'James mate, you've already got a fortune.' Sirius laughed. It was common knowledge that the Potters were a very wealthy family.

'Go rain on someone else's parade Sirius' James replied sticking his tongue out immaturely.

'Well go bug Pete and Remus then.' He replied with a roll of the eyes.

'But Sirius-'James whined unhappily. 'They're all the way down in the Great Hall and I waited for you to wake up specially.'

'Yeah, well I'd say kneeing me in the stomach is pretty much a fail in the way of _waiting _for me to wake up huh.'

'I already apologised, you can't hold that on me now. Plus I only did it cus I'm excited and I really, really want you to come watch me tryout for the Quidditch team,' Sirius had genuinely forgot all about the tryouts. The Gryffindor Seeker Mathew Davidson had quit the Gryffindor team after a row with the current Captain.

'I suppose I could come and laugh at your performance.' He replied cheekily.'

'You're a git Siri.' James huffed.

'You're a git Siri.' Sirius whined back, imitating James tone and receiving a punch in the arm for it.

The two boys had rushed down towards the Great Hall and were met just outside by Remus and Peter who were each holding a handful of toast in their hands. They thanked them gratefully and together the four headed towards the Quidditch Pitch.

'So, any idea who else is trying out for the position?' Remus inquired.

'Nope,' James replied suddenly looking nervous. 'Probably lots of older students...you know...5th years and stuff.'

'But none of them can match up to our Jamsie.' Sirius teased, pinching the boys cheeks and gaining a slap over the head from the boy.

'Bog of Siri,' he laughed.

'Oh goodness James.' Remus said with a shake of the head. 'You've not really decided to call us those ridiculous names, have you?'

'Course I have Remy.' James said proudly. 'And I'm not changing them unless we all agree on better ones.'

'Oh well, I don't suppose he'll mind too much about our little nickname for him then eh?' Sirius grinned wildly and giving Remus a nudge in the side and a wink.

'What name?' James said, his voice going slightly high in fright.

'Well you see that is for us to know James, you're not authorised to know that...it's classified.' James mouth opened and closed soundlessly, but he was unable to do anything as the others headed up into the stands leaving him to walk out onto the pitch.

The three boys had barely even reached the seats before the tryouts had begun. James was continuing to look over his shoulder towards them, as if begging them to offer him some form of help.

When it eventually reached James' turn Sirius was unsure whether he wanted to watch or turn away. But seeing Remus and Peter standing up and cheering for their friend gave Sirius the courage to watch as James kicked off and soared up into the air.

'Go on James!' Sirius bellowed encouragingly.

With one final grin towards them James sped off after the Snitch.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	13. Chapter 13 Just Another Day Isn't it?

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Yeah, and then I swooped down-'

'-Yes James.' Sirius interrupted amusedly. 'We know. We were watching the whole time you know.' James had successfully earned his place as the Gryffindor Quidditch team's new seeker and had been describing animatedly his every move during the tryouts.

It wasn't until they walked through the entrance door that Sirius felt his stomach tighten uncomfortably. He turned his head to the side pretending to be highly interested in whatever Peter was currently saying to James. He figured if avoided drawing attention to himself then he would avoid any awkward conversations or conflicts. Bellatrix and Narcissa were stalking down the corridor and had taken notice of him quite quickly. They stopped just short of colliding with the group. Each wore a look of loathing on their faces-Bellatrix even more so than the other.

'Having a good day cousin?' She sneered. 'I suppose you got lots of presents form mummy.' She cackled cruelly. Up until that point Sirius had done a rather good job of pretending that today was no different from any other and he knew that she could read his expression easily. 'No?' she asked dramatically, feigning innocence. 'Why ever not?'

'Sirius what is she talking about?' James asked looking a puzzled.

'It's my birthday,' he admitted in what he hoped sounded like a flippant manner. 'It was actually the best so far until I saw their ugly mugs.' He shot.

Bella looked extremely angered by Sirius' comment and drew her wand.

'Not in the corridor Bella.' The blonde said calmly.

'Let's head up to the Common Room,' Remus suggested-in a similar calm voice-whilst placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder. James looked between the two cousins in a slightly nervous fashion before giving the other a heavy nod and pulling Sirius towards the stairs.

Once they reached their destination the group sat beside the fire in their usual chair-few students protested due to the fact that they didn't want to be on the receiving end of a prank-in an uncomfortable silence. Sirius sighed heavily, they all knew now. Knew just how much his family were truly ashamed of him. He had received nothing more than a small bag, half full of money. To others it might still look quite good, but anyone who knew the Black's knew that money was not considered as a gift...they had so much of the stuff that receiving it was-to them-no better than receiving socks and had clearly been meant to show their dislike towards him.

'I'm really sorry Siri,' James said softly. 'I...I mean we...we didn't know, otherwise we would have got you something.' He tried to assure him.

'It's not as big deal, honestly James.' He replied feeling rather awkward about the whole situation.

'James. Peter. Can I talk to you for a moment?' Remus said suddenly. 'We'll only be a minute.' He added to Sirius before disappearing up the stairs.

When the boys finally reappeared it was only to indicate to him that he should come up to their dormitory.

He walked up the stairs somewhat warily, wondering why they had disappeared without him. He was quite surprised when his greeting as he entered the dorm turned out to be a large shout from his friends.

'Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Sirius, Happy Birthday to you.' They ended on a horribly out of tune note but he still couldn't help but smile at his friends. Each boy then proceeded to hold out a hand with a pillowcase enclosed in it.

'Nothing spectacular,' James said pushing Sirius down onto his bed. 'But we needed to give you something...even if we didn't get a chance to actually buy you anything.' The three boys then climbed onto the bed beside Sirius holding their hands out once more and Sirius took the Pillowcases from the feeling slightly confused.

'And the pillowcases...' Sirius began to ask.

'Well, we didn't have any wrapping paper did we?' James replied as if it was extremely obvious why they were handing over pillowcases. Sirius couldn't help but laugh at the genuinely exasperated look on James face.

He emptied the first pillowcase-which he had received from Peter-onto his red sheets. It had been filled with Chocolate Frogs, Every Flavour Beans, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Liquorice Wands and Sugar Quills. Sirius smiled at the chubby boy's efforts, he had after all given up his own sweets stash.

He then took the next pillowcase-which Remus had held in a slightly embarrassed fashion. He reached into the pillowcase and pulled out a large hardback book entitled "The A-Z guide of magical creatures" it was a rather shabby looking book and on the inside he knew he would find the familiar words "Property or Remus John Lupin" inscribed onto the first left hand side of the book's cover. He knew this because he had, in fact, borrowed the book on several occasions to read during James' detentions, while the other two boys had studied. He gave Remus an encouraging smile to show his thankfulness.

The last and final pillowcase had one solitary Chocolate Frog box in it.

'Open it!' James said enthusiastically. Sirius did as he was told, letting the frog jump out the box and hop around their dormitory looking for away to escape. Inside the box was a neatly folded piece of parchment-he had an inkling that James had asked Remus to fold the paper for him, James was far more likely to crumple it in a mess-and it read:

I James Potter owe you Sirius Black the following as birthday presents:

1 fully completed school assignment(much to the protestation of Remus Lupin)

5 Hugs (to be redeemed at any point he sees fit)

3 borrows of my Invisibility Cloak (intended for carrying out mischief)

3 Shots on my broom (a high honour indeed!)

1 Promise to remain Sirius' Black's most loyal and trustworthy friend, through thick and thin, no matter what dangerous situations or ridiculous antics he may be involved or involve me in and to never ever stop being his best ever friend.

Happy Birthday – P.S. I'll remember a present next time as it will cause me far less hassle the all of the above.

If it wasn't for the fact that Sirius was indeed a Black and Black's didn't make fools of themselves by crying in public he probably would have done so right there.

Sure they hadn't spent any money on him; the beans looked like they had been resealed by magic, the books was worn and written in and the parchment had been scrawled upon in a last minute rush, but they had all given him presents from their own items-something he knew would be harder for them-and had put some thought into it.

He had never felt that anything he had gotten from his family over the years had actually had much if any thought put into it. It was more to do with giving him heirlooms and dark materials than giving him something he would appreciate.

Whereas, his friends had genuinely thought before giving him the presents, all of which he would enjoy.

'Thanks guys,' Sirius whispered feeling overwhelmed with affection for the three boys. James pulled the two boys at his side towards Sirius, forcing them all into a group hug and surprisingly none of the group resisted whatsoever.

By the time Sirius was wrapped up in his covers and nearly ready to sleep he was in quite a positive mood. The four boys had had an good day together, wandering around the school grounds...threatening to throw Snape in the lake-much to Remus' displeasure-and they had returned to the dorm once more to stuff their faces with all the sweets they could handle without being sick.

He turned over to his bedside table picking up the heavy book that he had received from Remus and placing it on his lap.

'Lumos' he whispered so as not to disturb the others as they tried to sleep. He flicked to where a page had been folded neatly at the corner-something which Remus had told him off for doing-he had just finished a chapter on Vampires on his last read of the book and was intrigued as to what the next chapter would hold.

'Chapter 13' he read in his head. 'Werewolves.'

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**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	14. Chapter 14 Putting the Pieces Together

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius' groaned, he felt as if his head could quite easily explode at any given moment. He hadn't slept a wink the entire night and the sunlight was now beginning to drift through the windows showing Sirius that it was indeed a new day. Before the daylights arrival he had been completely unaware of just how long he had been sitting in his bed.

He had read over the chapter a thousand times-okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration-and he felt incredibly oblivious. How could he have not picked up the signs sooner? Remus was his best friend-next to James-How could he had been so dense as to not piece it together sooner...it all seemed so obvious now.

Even to flick through the book aimlessly the section on Werewolves would have caught any idiot's attention. It had clearly not been read often especially in comparison with the rest. It had some wear admittedly but was Sirius was willing to be ten galleons that the wear it did have was simply from having been read by a previous owner-he figured that like most of Remus' books it would be second hand.

He supposed if he himself was a Werewolf then he probably wouldn't have wanted to read about them in a book. Hell he would probably avoid even thinking about it.

He couldn't stay quiet about it...could he? After it wasn't in his nature to be quiet, something which had often got him in trouble at...home. It felt strange to think of it as home, it was more a prison cell than a home. He could just imagine how his parents would react to knowing their son had befriended a Werewolf. He gave an involuntary shudder.

Moving quickly he climbed out of bed and headed for a shower in hopes that things would seem clearer by the time he was finished.

Throughout the morning Sirius had watched Remus closely – and gained a fair amount of attention from Remus for doing so-and had notice a few things about the boy.

For example, after his shower he had returned to his dormitory to find Peter sitting on the end of James bed laughing as he watched Remus pin James to the ground. They were simply playing about like the usually did. But now, Sirius couldn't help but notice that regardless to the fact that Remus looked rather small, thin and generally weak he was in fact far from it. He made restraining James seem effortless, a task that even Sirius admitted had become harder of late. What surprised Sirius was that he had failed to notice Remus' strength before this point.

That wasn't the only thing, the day before when James and himself had tried to catch the chocolate frog later on they had struggled and eventually Remus had intervened through boredom and grabbed it as if it hadn't even been moving. Causing the other boys to dramatically cry out; "Oh Remy, our hero!" which made Remus blush awkwardly and caused Peter to burst into a fit of giggles. It was, once again, an effortless reaction proving Remus' reflexes to be extremely sharp-something which, until that point Sirius had though himself to be fairly good at.

The only thing that had stopped Sirius analysing the boy to see if he was actually "wolfish" was when Severus Snape had made a comment during transfiguration about how James and Sirius should transfigure Remus into a rabbit saying that the boys was like a little pet that James and himself carried about. He figured that the comment had originally been intended about Peter but the chubby boy was so busy concentrating on turning hid mouse into a teacup that he had taken little to no notice of Snape even turning to sneer at them.

Remus had looked humiliated and degraded and Sirius had felt an instant hatred for Snape that was beyond what he had previously felt.

'Bugger of you Snivelling git,' he said lowering his voice. 'You're just pissed that he has friends and you don't. Well here's a little hint to help you make friends.' He added cruelly, leaning forward towards Snape. 'Get a personality and wash your disgusting hair cus your leaving grease marks on the table.'

Snape now looked far more humiliated than Remus had and his eyes had widened is shock before he sneered at them once more and turned away without another word.

'Bloody git.' He spat angrily. James nodded his head in agreement albeit looking slightly worried. 'What?' he found himself asking the other boy in an irritated voice.

'Nothing,' James said hurriedly, but quickly gave into to Sirius' disbelieving look. 'It's just; you look pretty scary when you're angry mate. Kind of like...dark.'

'I don't like people treating people like crap without reason!' he felt snap defensively causing the rest of the class to turn towards the group nosily, including Snape who seemed to be revelling in that idea that he had caused an argument...which it was far from. 'He doesn't do anything to deserve being treated like crap form some greasy lowlife.' He added pointedly. James turned to look at Snape with a look of disgust.

'Nobody asked you to listen in Snivellus!' James said cruelly, and Sirius wondered if James was doing it solely to back him up.

'That is enough!' Professor McGonagall snapped suddenly form behind the group. 'You are no longer first years and I expect you to have matured over the last year, I do not expect your behaviour to deteriorate.' She warned the group firmly. 'Now I fully expect you to get back to work, this is a highly serious class and not one in which you can mess around.'

There was something about the tone of her voice that suggested that they should not anger her further.

By the time they had gotten out of class Sirius had decided that he couldn't pretend that he didn't know about Remus any longer. He told Remus that he and James would see them in the next class-History of Magic-and had then dragged James into the nearest empty classroom.

'I have something I need to tell you James, and I want your word that what I'm about to say won't leave this room.'

As he had expected James had sworn to secrecy and Sirius began telling James everything he had pieced together about Remus.

James had been surprisingly accepting of Sirius' idea, believing him straight away but telling him that they needed to have more evidence before confronting their friend.

So, together they had went running up to Gryffindor Tower to grab hold of James Invisibility Cloak.

'Now what?' Sirius asked as they began their way up the astronomy tower beneath James' cloak.

'We check the charts to match them up to Remus' absences, that way we'll know if they coincide with the full moon.' He replied and Sirius wasn't sure what had surprised him more. James' ability to think of such a simple yet logical way of uncovering the truth about Remus or the fact that he had used the word "coincide" as if it was an everyday word that he used and as they climbed the stairs he couldn't help but feel his stomach tighten anxiously. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to uncover his friend's secret.

If it turned out that Remus was in fact not a Werewolf and that Sirius simply had an overactive imagination then both he and James would be serving detention for skipping class and without even having a decent reason for doing so.

On the other hand, Sirius would have gladly went to detention every day for the rest of his years at Hogwarts if it meant that Remus would not be a Werewolf, he wasn't stupid...being a Werewolf meant that Remus was doomed to a life of pain and suffering as well as being unfairly treated through prejudice. He had never really thought about such things before now, always assuming Werewolves to be evil, merciless creatures without a decent thought in their head.

But Remus was far from being like that. He was simply...Remus and if anyone was least deserving of such a cruel fate then it was surely Sirius' shy, caring and harmless friend. To Sirius, Remus seemed no more beastly than a stuffed toy and as they reached the top of the stairs Sirius took a deep breath. It was now or never.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	15. Chapter 15 The Talk

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Where on earth have the two of you been?' Remus had asked them sitting down across from the two boys in the Great Hall. 'You missed two classes this morning!' he continued in a slightly panicky tone. 'Of course, I had no idea what to tell them. I don't think Binns even noticed really, but Slughorn wasn't happy. He's probably reported you to McGonagall already.'

'We should probably go then, she'll be here any minute and I don't fancy getting a telling off right now.' James said quietly.

'You can't not have lunch' Peter said in clear shock, from Remus' side. It was well known that the two boys usually helped themselves to more than their fair share of helpings at meal times.

'We can take some will us.' James replied with a shrug. Peter was now looking at the two boys suspiciously but that didn't bother Sirius in the slightest. What bothered Sirius was the look of concern in Remus' eyes. How ironic he mused, Remus was the one who had to go through the painful transformations each month and yet he was worried for them.

'What's going on Sirius?' Remus asked him and Sirius found himself unable to avoid the boys eyes. He opened his mouth to reply but nothing escaped.

'-Remus we need to talk to you.' James replied for him. 'Peter too come to think of it.' He added. Sirius immediately felt uncomfortable, he wasn't entirely sure whether he trusted Peter enough to allow him to be privy to Remus' secret. James seemed to have picked up on this because he was looking at Sirius apologetically.

'What's this about?' Remus asked, once again looking at Sirius for answers.

'Trust me this isn't something we want to discuss down here.' James told him, speaking for Sirius once agani.

With that they then scooped some food onto plates and sneaked them up their dorm.

However when they finally arrived at the dorm Sirius had no intentions of eating a single bite, having completely lost any earlier appetite-which on second thought he wasn't sure he had ever really had.

'Sit down,' James instructed. It had been meant for Remus but Peter had automatically followed the instruction as well.

Sirius couldn't help but wonder what was going through Remus' head at that moment. He seemed extremely pale and Sirius wondered if he had figured out what was going on or whether a suspicion about people finding out was always there in the back of his mind anyway.

'The thing is–' James started unsurely. 'I…I mean…'

'Don't keep him waiting James, it's not fair.' Sirius said softly, speaking for the first time since their discovery. Remus' eyes widened at these words and he could practically see the fear in his eyes and Sirius was surprised how much it hurt to see such a look on the boy's scarred face.

'Right,' James said, seeming to realise that it was best to just get it over with. 'You probably don't want an audience but I figured that since Pete shares the dorm with us that we couldn't hide it from him.' Seeing the disapproving look on Sirius face James corrected himself hurriedly. 'Well, I figured anyways…I don't think Sirius agrees with me entirely.

This wasn't entirely true, Sirius understood that Peter should know as much of the rest of them but he was simply worried that Peter might accidently blab.

'Hide what?' Remus asked in an unusually high voice.

'We know Remus' James said sadly. 'We know that you're…well…you're a…a Werewolf.' Peter laughed, thinking this was all some kind of prank but Sirius shot him a look that told him to shut up. Sobering slightly Peter looked between the group as if trying to see if they were being serious.

'Remus,' James started again.

'I…I don't know what you're talking about.' Remus quivered slightly. Sirius instantly felt the need to comfort the boy but resisted doing so, Remus didn't tend to want physical contact form people very often and he figured that would probably be truer when he was upset.

'We know Remus' James said again, this time slightly more forcefully. 'Sirius figured it all out.' Sirius felt like he received a punch in the stomach, he felt like he had betrayed Remus in some way.

'But…h…how?' Remus whispered looking terrified.

'He read that book of yours well, his now I suppose, and he realised that you had cetain…Werewolf like traits and…well…we checked the charts in astronomy to match them up with when you were away to see-'

'-Enough' Remus cut over him. 'Please I…I don't want to hear all this.'

'That…it's why we skipped classes earlier.' James tried to expain.

'I understand.' Remus said without any expression to give away what he was thinking. Remus then stood and headed towards his trunk pulling it open in what seemed like an eternally slow motion. He then began moving things from his bedside tables, placing them into his trunk.

'What are you doing? Sirius asked suddenly.

'Packing,' Remus replied quietly. 'Just please,' he added turning to face them. 'Please don't tell anyone else, I'll leave and I'll stay far away from all of you I promise.'

It was then that Sirius realized what was happening. Remus thought they wouldn't want him there any longer. Giving in to his earlier instinct Sirius crossed the room in two quick steps reaching Remus and pulling the shirt that was currently in his hand away and throwing it over his shoulder.

Remus looked at him fearfully, as if expecting him to hurt him in some way. Sirius could see the boy trembling, he was trying desperately not to cry-that much was clear.

Without another word Sirius pulled the smaller boy into his arms hugging him tightly.

'I don't understand,' Remus whispered in a frightened voice.

'You're not going anywhere Remus!' Sirius said forcefully. 'We don't want you to leave; we just wanted to tell you so that you don't have to hide it from us anymore.'

'But…I…I'm a werewolf,' Remus said quietly, looking far more confused than Sirius had ever seen him previously.

'Yeah, for like a tiny part of the month.' James cut in from his own bed. He seemed reluctant to move forward, prefering to let Sirius do the comforting. sirius couldn't help but think it slightly ridiculous that the one time James felt uncomfortable with the giving of hugs was when peoplee needed them most.

'We don't care,' Sirius said assuringly and at that precise moment Remus Lupin burst into tears. Sirius held his tightly in his arms once more and felt the boy's body shaking uncontrollably. Sirius felt terrible for causing Remus so much distress.

He continued to hug Remus for a long time, waiting patiently-which was quite shocking for Sirius-for the tears to subside.

'Is this real?' Peter squeaked fearfully. 'Or is this just a really, really cruel prank?'

'Don't be so bloody ridiculous Pete!' Sirius called from the other side of the room.

'But surely…I mean...does Dumbledore know?' Peter asked clearly quite shocked by the situation. Sirius felt Remus nod his head against his chest.

'Yeah he does Pete.' Sirius confirmed for him.

'He…he _let_ a Werewolf come to Hogwarts? But, there's got to be some sort of rule against that.' He said in disbelief.

Sirius felt his anger flare immediately.

'What the hell is your problem Pete? We asked you up here so that we would all know and we could put it behind us.'

'I didn't mean it like that!' Peter replied in a panic-stricken voice. 'I just meant that if people knew then the school would get a lot of complaints…I didn't think it was legal that's all.'

'It's okay Pete,' James assured him. 'We understand what you mean, it's not important anyway…what's important is that we aren't going to let this change anything okay, if anything we'll just be even better friends now cus no one's hiding anything.'

'If you breathe a word of this to anyone I swear I'll kill you with my bare hands.' Sirius warned him.

'Sirius,' James said warningly.

'Don't try to sugar-coat it James, I don't make threats I don't mean.'

'Still, he didn't mean anything bad by it Siri.'

'Yeah, well…I just don't want to take any chances. Remus deserves to be here as much as the rest of us.'

Remus who had been listening silently gave one small sob that sounded closer to a hiccough and Sirius sat the boy down onto his bed once more-placing an arm around his shoulders.

'You…you really won't report me?'

'Or prank you-well no more than we would each other-or doing anything that would be considered non-us.'

'Non-us?' Remus chuckled.

'As in not in our normal marauding ways.' James clarified happily his eyes suddenly lighting up with excitement. 'The Marauders!' he exclaimed suddenly.

'The what?' Sirius asked feeling thoroughly confused by his best friend.

'The Marauders,' He repeated practically bouncing with excitement. 'That can be our name.'

'Our name?' Pete interrupted.

'Do we really need a group name James?' Sirius groaned, it seemed kind of cheesy in his opinion.

'You'll grow to love it, I promise!' James said nodding his head enthusiastically. 'I mean no one else enjoys exploring this place quite like us!'

'That's true,' Remus added, but his voice was almost as quiet as when they had first met him.

'Fine,' Sirius gave in. 'Now if you would do the honors James' He added with a nod towards the previously discarded food that was sitting on James bed.

With a quick flick of his wand James muttered the incantation and heated up their food before floating it all over to Sirius' bed. The group all moved towards it to sit together and enjoy their lunch.

'So how dead do you think we are for skipping the afternoon classes as well?' James asked Sirius with a grin.

'Oh we're going to be in so much trouble now' Remus said in an almost whimpering voice.

'We'll think of something to use as an excuse.' Sirius assured him before lifting his spoon into his mouth.

'James Potter I'm gonna bloody kill you!' he hollered loudly. James had heated the food up far too much and Sirius' tongue was currently burning so much he could have mistaken it to be on fire.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	16. Chapter 16 The Day After The Talk

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

When Sirius awoke the next morning he was feeling extremely knackered, hot and squashed, the four boys had all fallen asleep on Sirius bed the night before and were all lying in a big heap together-Remus curled in a ball facing towards him, James sprawled half over Sirius and half over Peter, and Peter hanging half off the bed without even realizing.

He couldn't help being amused by the fact they had not only all squished into Sirius bed but that there was actually space on the other side of Remus that hadn't even been vacated. So they it was more like being squashed into two thirds of a bed.

Pretending to be sleeping still, Sirius stretched out making sure to whack James over the head with his arm. The boys shot up quicker than a flash of lightning looking dazed before turning towards Sirius and shoving him further along in the bed causing him to temporarily squish Remus into the bed.

'What _are _you doing?' Remus asked him with a yawn before pushing Sirius off effortlessly and accidently knocking him into James once more. Sirius grinned wildly as Remus action seemed to have caused a domino effect and Peter fell off the bed with a loud thump.'

'Hey,' He complained from the floor looking thoroughly perplexed. 'Why'd you push me off the bed?'

'I didn't mean to Pete.' James apologised, but he couldn't contain his laughter any longer at seeing the boy sprawled across the floor unhappily and burst into laughter-messy hair shaking uncontrollably with his head. 'Remus pushed Sirius into me and then I knocked into you and you were kind of dangling off the bed anyways…'

'Yeah, but you started it James' Sirius accused amusedly. 'I was fast asleep and then you knocked me into Remus…I mean honestly James.' He said with a pretend innocence. 'What is your problem? I let you sleep in my bed and this is how you repay me.' James gaped at him in disbelief.

'You hit me!' he shouted unbelievingly.

'Now Jamsie wamsie, that's not very nice now is it.' He teased.

'But…But…' he spluttered before turning to their friend. 'Remus, tell him off he's lying!'

'Me?' Sirius said with a look of shock on his face, he was enjoying this incredibly. 'What could I possibly gain from lying?'

'He does have a point you know.' Remus said. 'He really has nothing to gain from it.' Sirius wanted to jump up and down happily. Remus had fallen for his act and James was turning a funny colour in frustration.

But he couldn't contain himself any longer, erupting into a bout of laughter.

'See, he thinks it's a big joke!' James rushed pointing as Sirius accusingly. Remus was looking at Sirius in surprise, clearly shocked that he hadn't seen through Sirius' act.

He shook his head at them.

'Well we're up now; we may as well get ready and head down to breakfast.'

James nodded his head enthusiastically and jumped off the bed, forgetting Peter who hadn't moved since he had fallen. He landed on Peter with a thud and both boys gave a cry of pain from the impact.

He supposed he shouldn't have found it so amusing but he couldn't help himself. He and Remus both gave a holler of laughter at the two boys' collision.

'Oh, shut up!' James snapped unhappily. But it did nothing to quell the boys' laughter, only egging them on further and James sulked all the way down to the Great Hall.

Sirius couldn't believe he'd forgotten. When they entered the Great Hall they had sat down without a second thought and Sirius had just begun helping himself to cereal when she appeared.

'Now, which of you boys would mind explaining why you were absent from your afternoon lessons, as well as why two of you missed two of your morning classes on top of that' The second he had heard Professor McGonagall's voice he had looked up at James to see a look of horror on his messy haired friend's face. A look he was pretty certain he also had on his face.

'Sirius would be glad to explain' James offered in a panic, leaving Sirius ready to hit the boy once their head of house was out of sight.

'Well you see Professor, it's like this.' He started knowing full well that the only thing likely to come out of his mouth would be complete and utter garbage.

'I'm waiting Mr. Black.' She said testily.

'Well, we…I mean, I was really wound up after class yesterday when Snape started making his dumb-ass comments.'

'Mr. Black.' She added in a warning voice.

'Anyway, I ended up snapping at James and we got into an argument and I stormed off.' He wasn't sure whether he was sounding truthful or not. 'But James is a good mate and decided to come after me and we talked stuff through and made up, and that's why we weren't in class because we were reconstructing our friendship from the brink of destruction.' He realized that might sound a bit dramatic but hoped it would simply help their cause. 'I know that isn't a good excuse but I let my temper get the better of me and James was just trying to be a supportive friend.' She didn't look satisfied in the slightest.

'I see, and how do you explain all four of you being absent for the remainder of the day?' He had completely forgotten about the rest of the day under her steely gaze.

'Um, well what happened was.' He began, looking at the others as if trying to psychically steal ideas from their minds.

He then saw Remus looking awkwardly across to the door where Snape had just entered. He clearly still feeling uncomfortable due to their encounter the day before. 'Well.' He began ready for payback. 'We were intending to go to class but we bumped into Snape,' He could feel the rest of the groups eyes on him as he spoke; they were clearly suspicious as to why he was involving the boy in his tale. 'And he started making nasty comments again-'

'-Yeah,' James added in. 'He was being a right git.' It was clear that he was joining in simply for the effect to try and make it seem more plausible. 'He's lucky I was there otherwise Sirius would have pummeled him.' It was all Sirius could do not to grin at the boys comment.

'Anyways he was just being his usual git like self.'

'Black!' she warned.

'Sorry Professor, and then we told him to beat it but he'd all ready upset Remus and he said he wasn't feeling to good but we knew he just didn't want to be around Snape in case things got worse. So we went back up the dorms with him to cheer him up, once again not a good excuse but it's in our nature as Gryffindors to be loyal and protect our own so really we can't be held responsible for our actions.'

'Is this true?' she asked turning to Remus questioningly. He looked incredibly awkward but Sirius gave the boy a pleading look and luckily the scarred boy nodded his head softly.

'I see,' she said seeming to take Remus more seriously than the other boys. 'Well, I will make sure that Professor Slughorn has a word with Mr. Snape about his recent behavior. I will not tolerate bullying in my classroom or any other. However, that does not excuse you form punishment. You will all be given a written punishment to hand in to me by tomorrow morning and you will be given detention for your truancy.'

The boys all nodded and she left them to their breakfast, heading towards Professor Slughorn with a look of determination on her face.

'I can't believe you!' James said with a grin that would rival that of any a Cheshire cat. 'You didn't even mess up once; you need to teach me how to lie like that.'

'I don't even know I did it to be honest…but I think we should work on better excuses from now on.' He replied.

'Snape's going to get in a lot of trouble you know,' Remus said guiltily. 'You shouldn't have involved him Sirius.'

He did feel slightly bad for making Remus lie to a teacher, but he wasn't bothered in the slightest about getting Snape in trouble.

'He's said plenty of other crap since we came to Hogwarts and he's never got in trouble for any of that. He deserves it.' He said passively, but he couldn't help but notice the disappointed look in Remus expression.

'I'm sorry okay,' he added unhappily. 'I just picked the first name I could think of and he just happened to be walking in the door.'

'Okay.' He replied quietly. Sirius couldn't help but think that _'as long as you don't make a habit of it' _would have usually followed. But Remus seemed less confident in airing his opinions as if frightened they might spill his secret if he upset them. Leaning sideways Sirius whispered quietly:

'I mean it Remus, I'm sorry for putting you in an awkward position, okay.' Remus looked up at him seeming to finally believe him.

Sirius threw an arm over Remus' shoulders to show he meant it giving him a quick squeeze. It did the trick, the boy returned his smile.

James was now watching the two boys and Sirius felt bad, it hadn't been too long ago that he had continuously shrugged off any hugs from his bespectacled friend. Yet he had been giving Remus them without hesitation since the events the day before.

He'd have to make sure to give his friend an extra big hug at some point throughout the day to make up for it.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	17. Chapter 17 Full Moons and Dismal Returns

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

The full moon had quickly become an important factor in the marauders' lives. Every full moon as Remus was led out to the Shrieking Shack the other three Marauders would sneak out the castle beneath James' invisibility cloak and head towards their favourite tree beside the lake.

It was there that they would sit, watching the full moon with an ever growing hatred. It was unfair that their friend had to withstand such pain each and every month in what must feel like a never ending cycle.

They would spend every full moon in that spot regardless of what work needed done, what fun was going on inside the castle walls, not to mention without caring about the weather.

It had been James idea at first. Sirius had told Remus that they would accompany him down the Whomping Willow-beneath the cloak to avoid being found out by Madame Pomfrey. They did as Sirius had promised that first night, and every other after that.

It had been truly heart-breaking to watch their soft-hearted friend walk into that passage looking pale, nervous and downright frightened. Who knows how long they had stood there, staring at the tree as if hoping he would walk straight back out, declaring that he had tricked his fellow marauders. Proving himself to have pulled the best prank of all time.

But unfortunately that wasn't the case. Madame Pomfrey had re-appeared after making sure he was ready for his transformation and had headed up to the school.

He wondered how difficult it was for her to willingly leave him there each month knowing full well the pain he was about to endure.

It was then that they had planned on going back up to the school but Sirius had found himself unwilling to go back to their loud and cheerful dormitory knowing that Remus would be left alone outside to face the night's horrors.

James had refused to head up to the school without him and Peter had obviously had no intentions of going alone so they headed towards the lake and sat beneath the tree that they so often dominated in their free time.

But that was then, and each month since they had found it increasingly difficult to watch their friend's retreating form as he headed to face his inevitable suffering.

It was now the last full moon before the summer and Sirius was deep in thought. He was worried about numerous things. He was worried about Remus' transformations and the fact that they would no longer be there to comfort Remus before and after his transformations. Sure Remus would have his parents and they would be able to provide him comfort but the fact that he wouldn't see Remus after his transformations was enough to drive Sirius insane. He would have to write each time to check how it had went, to find out if it had been a particularly tough transformation-although that would sound stupid, they were always tough on the poor boy.

The worst part was that he wouldn't be able to give the smaller boy a hug, something that probably gave more comfort to Sirius than to Remus. He tended to hug him as if double checking that the boy was still in one piece.

The other thing that worried Sirius was that he would soon be returning to Number 12 to spend the summer with his family. He hadn't spoken a word to his parents throughout the whole of his second year and the conversation hadn't particularly flowed the summer before either.

He gave a sigh and was surprised when he felt James wrap his arms around him comfortingly.

'I know. I don't want the year to end either. I was thinking of asking everyone over for the summer...you included.' He said firmly. 'I figured we could come pick you up, me and dad that is. I mean, we're purebloods so I figured we might be able to convince them to let you come for a bit towards the end of the summer.'

'They won't let me James.' Sirius replied in a defeated tone.

'Look, just explain that if they are so determined for you not to embarrass them then the best way to do that it to spend your spare time with me. I'm a pureblood. That's what they want you to spend your time with isn't it?'

'Yeah but that doesn't include your family James. As far as my parents are concerned your family are nothing more than blood traitors.' He felt himself reply angrily.

James gave him a defeated look. 'I'm sorry.' Sirius added quietly. 'I get that your trying to cheer me up but the best way to do that is to just...be at the station early on the first of September okay, They'll want me gone as soon as possible anyways so I can meet you early and you can try to put me into a good mood before we get going.'

'Deal.' James said with a small grin. 'Then we can discuss the many pranks to be pulled next year, I think we can safely say that next year will need to be brought up a notch.'

He grinned mischievously in reply but his heart wasn't really in it.

'Sounds like a plan Jamsie.' He teased.

When the end of term came he had spent the entire journey feeling extremely depressed, the train had sped towards platform 9 and ¾ and they had reached the station so quickly that he had felt like it had been a deliberate attempt to break his spirits.

The group had stepped off and as suspected Kreacher had been sent to retrieve him. He stopped quickly turning to his friends.

'Make sure you guys right okay.' He insisted and the group had all nodded their heads in confirmation of his request.

He then hugged each member of the group, giving Remus an extra tight squeeze and whispering to write before and after each transformation. Something which made the boy's eyes twinkle with laughter and smile softly.

'I did manage to deal with it for a long time by myself Sirius; I'm not completely fragile you know...I won't break.'

'I know, I just...' but he wasn't sure how to finish the sentence and broke off into a shrug before turning to James.

'Do me a favour James,' he said quickly with a look towards Kreacher to make sure he wasn't listening in on their conversation.

'What?'

'When you invite the guys over for a bit make sure to tell me okay.'

'Um...okay.' James said with a somewhat suspicious expression on his face.

'See you guys soon okay.' He added with smile. They nodded and before Sirius was allowed to depart James had pulled the four boys together with a smile and encouraged them into a group hug.

Sirius gave them a grin before turning to face the house elf's direction. He made a mental note be nicer to his little brother this summer. After all, he would be attending Hogwarts soon and he didn't want them to be completely estranged.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Sorry if the Chapter seems short…it does to me anyway. On the bright side I had some free time-which is quite shocking considering my weekends are rarely anything but hectic-so I wrote another chapter today to post.**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	18. Chapter 18 The Passing of Letters

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

When he arrived at Number 12 he was surprised to see Regulus peering down at him from the banister. He seemed to be waiting for something and that made Sirius increasingly uncomfortable.

'Hey,' he greeted the younger boy.

'I see you've lost your manners then.' A voice said grimly from behind him. He turned round quickly changing his face to adopt an apologetic look.

'Sorry father, I didn't think.'

'It's not about thinking Sirius.' He said unhappily. 'If you are so careless in my home then you are most likely careless elsewhere.' Sirius knew that his father was not looking for any form of reply and remained silent. There was something different in his father's stance and expression. He seemed to look at him in a colder manner than he had at any other point in Sirius' life.

His father then looked up towards Regulus with a slightly less harsh expression, but firm all the same. 'I implore you not to follow his example son. He appears to be far less disciplined than he should be. But do not doubt that I will instill discipline into him before the summer ends. We wouldn't want people to judge you on his behavior now would we.' He said shooting a dark look towards Sirius.

He was left to take his things to his room and as soon as he reached his destination he had threw his things down in anger. This wasn't fair; all he had done to deserve his father's harsh treatment was try to do the right thing.

After dinner he had retired to his room saying that he needed to rest after his earlier journey from Hogwarts. He would have thought his parents hadn't noticed his presence at the table if it weren't for the uneasy atmosphere and the barely noticeable nod that his father had given at his request.

He climbed up the stairs in a resigned manner but he felt immediately better when he saw a large brown owl sitting on the ledge outside his window. He reached forward and opened the window allowing the bird to hop into his room holding out its leg in a pleasant manner and watching him intently.

He hadn't expected any mail quite yet; he figured James must be extremely bored to have started writing already. The Owl was named Serafina, and name that Sirius had mocked endlessly thinking it to be an extremely un-owl like name. But James had defended the bird saying that he thought the name suited her perfectly.

He ripped the letter open immediately stroking Serafina's head as he read:

Dear Sirius

Is it just me or does this letter already seem a bit formal for us? Perhaps next time I'll address it Dear Siri. I figured you'd be bored stiff by now and probably in need of a bit of decent conversation…or plain old conversation.

Anyway I just wanted to say I hope you don't go completely insane, unless that helps you think of good pranks that is-repeat that to Remy and you will pay! Anyways, is it just me or do I have obsession with writing anyways? The point is that I asked mum and dad as soon as we got home and they said that I can invite people over whenever I want…I'll need to check when the you know what is to make sure Remy can come before I actually decide when to have people over. Which brings me to back to remembering your earlier suspicious behavior my dear Siri *gives you a suspicious look* so what are you planning? I know you're up to something so you better give me an answer!

From James

Sirius grinned; James could be a right nosy git at times. But he decided that it was probably quite justifiable on this occasion. He had figured that he could simply leave a letter for his parents explaining politely that he had been asked to stay with his friend James Potter for the remainder of the summer and that he had needed to leave immediately. He then figured that he should do so at an early time of day and then say that he hadn't wanted to disturb their sleep to ask permission and that he would look forward to seeing them the next summer. This was undoubtedly a lie but they couldn't really prove that, could they.

He hastily scribbled back a reply to the boy.

Dear Jamsie

Yeah I know now I can annoy you through a letter and you won't be able to hit me. *grins happily* When exactly counts as whenever? I have a plan for coming to yours and the sooner the better really. I know that sounds kind of imposing but this place is maddening already and my family are be ignorant gits.

Please reply ASAP

Sirius

He could only hope for the best he supposed and with a small stroke of Serafina's head he sent her off on her way.

When he had awoken the next day he had been extremely saddened by the fact that there was, as of yet, no reply. But he decided he was being a bit unreasonable. Serafina probably hadn't even reached the Potter's yet. He wasn't entirely sure where they lived after all.

He spent most of that day in his room; he had been sitting on his bed propped up by his mass of pillows when Regulus had appeared at the door looking rather unsure of whether he should be there or not. The small boy kept looking over his shoulder as if checking that he was not being seen near his elder brother.

'Hey,' he greeted the younger boy feeling slightly saddened by his brother's unease.

'Hello,' he replied in a barely audible voice before entering the room and closing the door behind him quickly.

'What are you reading?' Regulus asked looking surprised that his brother had chosen to read on his first proper day _off_ school.

'"The A-Z Guide of Magical Creatures"' he replied with a grin, knowing full well that his brother would be surprised by his choice. 'I decided I quite magical creatures.' He added with a small smile. 'Quite interesting some of them.'

'Why did get sorted into Gryffindor?' Regulus asked suddenly seeming quite worried. He gave a sigh in return; his brother was clearly worried that he too would get sorted into Gryffindor and that his parents would hate him just as much as they did Sirius.

'I met some people on the train, people I decided I wanted as friends.' He explained. 'turned out that one of the was extremely put off being friends with me because of the things our family stand for and…well I decided that they were right about certain things.' He didn't really want to give his brother a blow by blow account of the day.

'I don't understand though, you can't have changed all your opinions that quickly.' Regulus said, confusion etched upon his face.

'I didn't, they sort of…I dunno changed over time really. But I decided that the people that were aiming to be in Gryffindor were the people that I wanted as friends. I chose to join Gryffindor.' He explained softly.

His brother gave a gasp of horror as if he was unable to understand his brother's actions. He then strode straight out of the room as if worried that he would catch whatever illness he assumed Sirius must have to choose to make such ridiculous decisions.

When he went down for the family meal that night he could feel the tension in the air once more. His parents were discussing Hogwarts with his brother.

'You know, I believe you will be a fine addition to the Slytherin house.' His father said to Regulus proudly. 'All we will ever ask of you is to uphold our family's honor and respect our views and principles. Although we have no worries about _you_ it's not as if you're going to go making friends with mudbloods or blood traitors.' He said.

'Of course not father.' Regulus said respectively. 'I'm not going to join ranks with _those_ people. I hold myself in to high a regard honestly and wouldn't dream lowering myself to even speaking to such disgusitng disgraces. After all, he who must not be named doesn't just accept anybody, now does he? I have to prove myself worthy of him.'

'Exactly' his father said happily before turning towards Sirius who was holding in his opinions desperately trying to avoid any conflict. 'You know, you should take a leaf out of Regulus' book.'

Sirius said nothing but gave a respectful nod. Regulus looked horrified as he watched Sirius.

'Father he doesn't mean it!' he exclaimed. 'He has no intentions of trying to be like us. He _chose _to be in Gryffindor.'

Sirius held his breath worriedly.

'Is this true?' his father asked in a cold manner. Sirius seemed unable to move, terrified by what might happen next. 'IS THIS TRUE?' he bellowed angrily. With a gulp Sirius realized there was no point in denial; they would never believe him over their _precious Regulus_. He nodded his head in admittance.

'Out in the hall now!' his father said in a dangerously low voice. He did as he was told and was followed by his father.

He had known what was coming before the door had even closed behind his father. His father stood facing the door as if regaining his composure before turning to face him.

Before that point his father had _never _hit him. But the noise of his father's fist contacting with Sirius' face had resounded loud and clear through the near empty household.

'Upstairs now.' He said coldly and Sirius did as he was told without question. He reached his bedroom at top speed, feeling extremely fearful.

What he saw made his heart pound even faster than it already was.

On his bed was that oh so familiar brown owl. He reached forward grabbing the letter that was clutched in her claw. She made a noise to show her displeasure at his action but at that moment he couldn't care less.

Dear Siri

DO NOT CALL ME JAMSIE! It's unbelievingly annoying and I will simply hit you the next time I see you twice as hard for thinking you could get away with it without punishment.

Whenever simply means whenever. My parents aren't all the fussed really. They probably just want me to have someone around since it's kind of a one child household. Which you know, works well in my favour. *shoots you a grin*

Basically whenever you decided you want to escape then you can just use the Floo Network. Just say "Potter Household, Godric's Hollow" and I'll see you there. I tend to sit about in that room anyway if I'm not just shout'

Hoping to see you soon

James

With that in mind Sirius curled up into a ball and fell went to sleep. Tomorrow he would be rid of this horrible place.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	19. Chapter 19 Meeting the Potters

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: ****I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius treaded carefully as he began to descend the stairs. Each one creaked loudly as if screaming for his parents to awaken. He had now got to the point of holding his breath at each step, listening out for some hint of them awakening.

When he finally reached the fireplace he was feeling extremely nervous-not that he ever got nervous-he would be in a lot of trouble when he returned for the next summer vacation.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved the note that he had scrawled as soon as he had awoken. He then placed atop the fireplace and grabbed a hand full of Floo Powder. With a final look around the room he dragged his trunk into the fireplace and threw the powder down.

'Potter Household, Godric's Hollow' he said clearly.

He found himself in the Potters's house quicker than he had expected and was surprised at the contrast between this house and his own.

The room was large and decorated in rich warm colours with large comfy looking couches with thick cushy pillows. In fact it almost reminded him if the Common Room in Gryffindor Tower. The difference being that the room had various pictures of what he assumed to be family members.

James had told him just to call out if he wasn't in the room but Sirius found himself hesitating. After all it was still quite early in the morning.

Just as he pondered what to do a kind looking man walked into the room with a rolled up Daily Prophet in one hand and a steaming mug of Coffee in the other.

'Mr. Potter?' Sirius asked somewhat awkwardly.

'Yes, that's me.' He replied with a smile.

'Sorry to arrive unannounced but James said just to come whenever and-'

'Ah-so you're Sirius.' He exclaimed in a way that seemed as if he had just solved some marvelous mystery. Sirius nodded his head in reply not wanting to speak out of place.

'My son gave me the impression that you were as loud and troublesome as him, but you seem far quieter than I expected.' Mr. Potter said. 'I'll only be a moment.' He added and headed back out of the room heading towards a white staircase.

'James!' he heard the elderly looking man call up the stairs. 'There's a rather peculiar looking boy with black hair in our living room. You wouldn't happen to know a Sirius Black, would you?' the man's voice contained slivers of laughter and Sirius figured that must be where James had got his numerous side from.

The noise he heard at that moment was near on indescribable. He didn't think anyone else in the world could ever have contended with the noise that was made as his friend began descending the stairs at top speed. The stomping had barely stopped when James had appeared at the doorway in bright red pajamas. Sirius stifled a laugh at the sight of him-his hair was even more ridiculous than usual sticking up at odd angles.

James then flew forward pulling him into a bear hug.

'You know,' he joked. 'When I said whenever I wasn't quite expecting you the second day of the holidays.'

'Sorry.' Sirius mumbled apologetically.

'No worries,' James assured him with a grin. 'I don't mind.' But his eyes seemed to widen as he looked at Sirius.

'What?' Sirius asked feeling self-conscious.

'What did you do to your face Siri? It looks like you got in a fight with a Were-' but he cut off suddenly looking horrified by his own words. 'I didn't mean…'

'Don't worry I won't mention it to him Jamsie.' He teased. It had clearly been a slip of the tongue.

'Anyways, what happened?'

'I uh…' he looked uncomfortably towards Mr. Potter who had now come over to him.

'I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.' said with a sad smile. 'I guess they weren't happy with you coming here?'

'No, it was…I mean…I kinda dropped myself in it really.' He said trying to shrug it off.

'Why? What'd you do?' James asked curiously, he looked appalled that Sirius had been hit.

'Regulus kind of told my father that I…I chose to be in Gryffindor and things kinda kicked off. Doesn't matter now anyways, I didn't even realise there was any damamge…just thought it was kinda sore.'

'It's just a bit of bruising.' Mr. Potter said looking him over. 'I'm sure my wife will fix it in seconds. I'd do it myself but I never was good at those sorts of charms.'

Sirius smiled in return to Mr. Potter who bore a shocking resemblance to James. He had the same messy black hair and glasses and even his facial features. In a way he felt like he was getting a glimpse at what James would eventually look like.

'You had breakfast yet?' James asked still looking somewhat troubled.

'Nope.' He replied feeling quite hungry now that food had been mentioned.

'Better go tell your mother then, otherwise there won't be enough food to feed the four of us.' Mr. Potter told his son.

They then headed to the kitchen where a rather cheerful Mrs. Potter was humming to herself as she made the breakfast. She looked somewhat flustered when she realized that Sirius was there, seemingly embarrassed to be seen humming about in the kitchen.

He was introduced to Mrs. Potter at that moment and much like with James' father took an instant liking to her. She looked to be older than his own mother and had mousy brown hair and a rather warm smile.

Sirius came to enjoy life at the Potter's, the house had a warm, happy and most importantly a loving feel to it. James was an only child so his parents seemed to dote on him in a way that made Sirius feel rather jealous. Even as a small child he couldn't remember a time when his parents had been openly loving towards him. James had been the first person to ever give him a hug, and coming from this house he could understand where James got his loving nature from.

It also turned out that the Potters were quite wealthy but unlike with his family they didn't spend their money buying ridiculous ancient items of no real meaning to anyone. The Potters were very kind people and Mr. Potter seemed determined to show Sirius a good time, he had even apparated to Diagon Ally and bought Sirius a broom so that the two boys could play Quidditch in the garden.

By the time the other Marauders arrived there was only one week left of the holidays. As a celebration of the others' arrival they had decided to camp out in James' back garden and Peter had even nipped home to bring his tent to James' house-insisting they would have far more fun camping the muggle way.

They spent the night gazing up at the skies, roasting marshmallows-a concept that Sirius thought to be quite silly-and had even been swapping scary stories-which weren't at all scary-they had also been trying to think up some plans for the new school year. They had eventually come to the conclusion that they were going to play a "welcome back" trick on the Prefect Carriage.

'You know, I bet we'll have Potions first thing!' James complained loudly.

'Nah, Defense Against the Dark Arts' Peter added.

'I'd put my money on Transfiguration.' Remus said.

'Yeah, she'll go transforming into a cat first thing and frighten the hell out of people who won't be expecting it.' Sirius laughed.

'Wow, that's be so cool.' James said dreamily.

'Yeah,' Peter added enthusiastically. 'Imagine all the different places we could get into. We'd be able to find the kitchens no problem with an animal's sense of smell.'

'Think of all the adventures we could have!' James said grinning wildly. 'We could go in the Forbidden Forrest and the creatures wouldn't even harm us cus we'd just be animals, there's already plenty of them in the Forrest and they never get hurt.'

'James Potter, I could kiss you!' Sirius shouted happily.

'I'd rather you didn't Siri.' He replied with a laugh.

'Oh shove off Jamsie!' he replied with a grin and giving the boy a push.

'Don't call me Jamsie!' he replied shoving Sirius back. They were then pulled apart by Remus and Peter who looked exasperated with the pair.

'You were saying Sirius?' Remus asked curiously.

'Oh yeah! I could-'

'We got that part Siri' James teased.

'Anyway, why don't we do it? You know become animagus.' He said happily.

'Do you realise how long that would take Siri?' James asked with a roll of the eyes.

'Not to mention the fact that it's incredibly risky, and you'd have to wait until you were of legal age anyway.' Remus added.

'Listen, we just won't tell anyone that we are. Plus it's like you said James,' he said firmly to James. 'None of the creatures in the Forrest would harm us right?'

'Right,' James replied not looking sure where this was going.

'So then we could help Remus,' he exclaimed happily. 'If we were in our animagus forms then we wouldn't be in danger would we, we could go with him for the transformations and stop him hurting himself.'

'No!' Remus said suddenly. 'Even in your animagus forms you could still get hurt, I wouldn't try to kill you and I probably wouldn't be able to infect you but I could still cause you a lot of damage. I am a Werewolf Sirius! I am not some silly little puppy that might bite if you annoy it.'

'I don't care' Sirius replied huffily, he looked towards James and Peter hoping one of them would take his side on this one.

'I'd do it.' James said with a firm nod.

'Don't try to be brave James, this is ridiculous.' Remus warned him.

'I…I would too…although, I'm not as quick at learning things as you two, so you'd have to help me a bit.' Peter admitted sheepishly.

'I won't let you.' Remus said shakily.

'Calm Remus.' Sirius said flinging an arm over the pale boy's shoulders. 'It won't be for a few years yet anyway. Plus, we're not doing this lightly.' Sirius said firmly.

'How can you expect me to be calm about this Sirius.' He whispered in a frightened manner.

'Trust me Remus, we won't be stupid…we'll research it and all sorts to make sure we're not putting ourselves at risk and we'll make an informed decision, okay?' He asked.

'Why do I get the feeling you'll do it regardless.' Remus said in a defeated tone.

'Anyway,' James started with a grin. 'This prank for the Slytherins…' and with that the boys dove once more into a animated conversation about the next week's main event.

When they finally decided to go to sleep the four boys settled down in their sleeping bags. Peter's snoring and James' generally over-loud breathing told Sirius that the two boys were asleep.

He turned over trying to get comfortable-something he considered unlikely on the hard ground-only to find Remus staring up at him with worry in his eyes.

'Promise me something Sirius.' He whispered softly.

'What?'

'I know you'll go ahead with this animagus thing anyway but…be careful okay.'

'Okay.'

'Promise?' Remus asked once more.

'Promise.' He confirmed with a smile.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	20. Chapter 20 Back to School

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

He hadn't been quite as excited about returning to school as he had the year before. Mr. and Mrs. Potter had accompanied the group to the platform and the group were glad that this year they wouldn't have the hassle of trying to find each other on the train.

Mrs Potter gave each of the boys a hug, holding onto Sirius nearly as long as she had James. Sirius figured she was trying to compensate for the fact that Sirius didn't have a _loving _family of his own.

He had barely pulled out of her hug when he had noticed _them_. Bellatrix and Narcissa were standing in the midst of a bunch of Slytherins including Malfoy who was-unfortunately-wearing a shiny looking Head Boy badge. They were standing huddled together talking in whispers, Sirius recognised some of them but there were a few who he still didn't know the names of. He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't looked towards Bellatrix once more but standing to her side and slightly behind her-looking extremely pleased with himself-was Regulus.

'What you looking at?' James asked suddenly causing Sirius to jump slightly in surprise. James was now on his tiptoes and trying to look over the crowds of people in every direction for something that grabbed his attention.

'Nothing.' Sirius rushed quickly.

The three boys looked at him disbelievingly before James suddenly grinned mischievously having spotted a familiar greasy haired boy who was walking in their direction with a familiar red head.

'Sev!' he shouted joyously with a familiar smirk on his face. The other boy looked towards the group somewhat angrily.

'Hey, didn't see you there _Sev_,' Sirius added in an overenthusiastic voice.

'Not seen you in ages, we need to catch up...sorry for not writing I was sort of busy.'

'Washing your hair, unlike some.' Sirius muttered in an undertone so that only the two of them could hear.

Snape began walking faster and the boys received a glare from Lily Evans who hurried along with them. Mrs Potter was now looking at them suspiciously.

'You be nice James.' She warned him.

'Why wouldn't I be? Sev's one of my best friends.' He asked with a fake innocent face. The other boys turned away desperately trying to hide their sniggers.

The whistle then sounded unexpectedly and with a rushed farewell to James' parents they all boarded the train and began heading towards their usual compartment.

Luckily it was still empty when they reached it and the four boys dove in excitedly.

James closed the door behind them and began diving into his trunks, pulling out his invisibility cloak with glee.

They grinned wildly, looking forwards to their latest plan. They then snuck out along the train beneath the cloak and headed towards the compartments that the Slytherins were occupying.

Once at the right part of the train they pulled out their wands and began setting up their new spell. The spell that they had made and began rigorously testing for the last week-although unfortunately they had all needed to take turns at being the test dummies.

From testing they knew that the spell lasted approximately ten hours on whichever object it was placed and that once the subjects were affected it lasted a further 24 hours. They carefully checked that they had placed the spell on every compartment door with a Slytherin inside before heading back to their own compartment feeling quite satisfied.

Exiting the Hogwarts Express had been one of, if not the funniest things that any of the four boys had ever seen.

The Slytherins of course, were far from impressed. They were all ranting and raving hysterically. Each one of them sporting a fantastic new look.

Every one of them now had hair in the Gryffindor house colours, and it didn't take long for the rest of the students to take notice.

Unfortunately there had been a flaw in the Marauders plan. They had missed one Slytherin-Severus Snape-who had been sitting in a different part of the train with one Lily Evans who was currently wide eyed and Sirius got the impression that she was secretly amused and trying not to laugh simply for the sake of Snape who was looking on in shock and...anger?

They then had to wait for the carriages to arrive to take them up to the school and James and Sirius made a point of being close enough to Snape for him to hear.

'Dammit James, I can't believe we never thought of the treacherous Slytherins that don't sit with their own greasy kind.' Sirius said just loud enough for them to overhear. Snape did nothing more than shoot them a glare before getting into the newly arriving carriage. Leaving the Marauders to laugh openly at their prank.

Lily Evans, of course, couldn't remain quiet and had interrupted the groups laughter to make her opinion clear.

'You lot are that most irritating, immature bunch of idiots I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. You shouldn't have taken credit for it, you know, there is going to be _a lot _of angry Slytherins being pointed in _your _direction.'

'Well we're not going to stay quiet and let someone else take claim to such an fabulous prank now, are we?'

'Idiot the whole lot of you!' she said angrily before joining Snape in the carriage and heading towards the castle.

'Bye Lily.' James called out awkwardly, causing the rest of the group to stare at him as if he had suddenly decided to sprout a new head.

Lily looked back towards the group with a slightly confused expression, a small blush appearing on her cheeks.

'Bye Lily?' Sirius asked with a disgusted look. 'Why don't you go give Snape a cuddle as well why you're at it?'

'Oh I believe James has a crush.' Remus said with a knowing smile.

'I do not!' he protested loudly.

'Aww, look at Jamsie's blush Remus.' Sirius laughed prodding at the boys ever reddening cheeks.

'I...I was being polite!' he huffed loudly.

'Sure James.'

'She's in Gryffindor Sirius, there's no point in making enemies in our own house.'

'Give up James,' Sirius grinned.

'He has a point you know.' Remus smiled. 'It's clear that you haven't been to the Sirius Black School of Lies and Deceit.'

'You offend me Remus.' Sirius joked holding his chest as if he had been brutally stabbed.

'Do you think you'll live long enough to climb into that carriage?' Remus asked nodding towards the latest arrival.

'No, you'll have to carry me.' He said pretending to faint and letting James catch him. The group laughed simultaneously before heading up to the school.

The Sorting Ceremony turned out to be the worst one to date. Worse than the never-ending stares of the first year one and even worse than the lack of Remus at the second year one.

Today he had to watch as his little brother was sorted.

The other Marauders had went deadly silent and looked at Sirius in shock when Professor McGonagall had called out:

'Regulus Black.' The entire room was silent at that moment. Everyone waiting to find out if there would be a second betrayal to the Black family.

James gave Sirius a small smile seeming to understand that Sirius hadn't wanted to mention it while Peter was watching Regulus intently as he sat on the stool.

It wasn't until Remus-who was sitting by his side-reached out a hand-without drawing anyone's attention-and gave Sirius' arm a squeeze. Sirius gave a small smile in return for the boys support and turned to face his brother once more.

'Slytherin!' the hat boomed loudly. The roar of triumph form the Slytherin table was almost sickening.

He couldn't do anything but watch as his brother was given many a slap on the back form those who Sirius hated most in the school.

Unable to watch any longer Sirius lowered his eyes and even lowered his head slightly towards the table, avoiding eye contact with his friends. He felt sick; he could feel many pairs of eyes watching every move.

At that moment Sirius could take no more of the staring and bolted straight out of the Great Hall at top speed. The Great Hall went instantly silent once more and the three other Marauders got up quickly, running after Sirius despite Professor Dumbledore's request that everyone remain seated.

Sirius headed straight for the outdoors and once outside collapsed down on the steps leading up to the castle. He wasn't weak. He wouldn't cry, he was Sirius Black and Sirius Black _never _cried.

The boys didn't take long to reach him and they all sat down beside him quietly as if waiting for him to speak. But he didn't and what happened next was completely unexpected.

For the first time since the four boys had met Remus initiated a hug causing Sirius to lift his head up in surprise. The other two boys were clearly as taken aback by the action as he.

It couldn't change anything; Sirius was still the only Black to ever be placed in Gryffindor. His brother was still doomed to live a life of dark arts, false friendships and Merlin knew what else. But at that moment it all seemed to disappear and despite everything Sirius simply wrapped his arms around the other boys waist, feeling truly comforted in his usually shy friend's arms.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	21. Chapter 21 Choices and Cuddles

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius awoke the next morning to find himself near on suffocated by the mass of covers that were currently covering. The four boys had stayed up late the night before and hadn't bothered to move from Remus' bed.

He turned over to find that he was only person in the bed, which explained why he hadn't been awoken by a kick in the side or some such method.

'Good morning Sirius,' came the voice of Remus Lupin who was standing in the doorway leaning against the door's frame.

'Morning' he yawned tiredly in return. 'Where are the others?'

'Well, it turned out that James was unable to wait for you before getting his breakfast. Peter and I headed down as well but I decided to come see if you were up yet. You have a habit of being late, you know.'

'Really?' Sirius asked faking surprise. Remus chuckled in return before pulling the cover back slightly and hopping into the bed.

'I guessed you probably wouldn't have time to go to the Great Hall before classes.' Remus added handing Sirius a bundle of toast wrapped up in a napkin.

'Thanks Remy.' He replied with a genuine smile.

'Wait until I tell James that he has you going with the nicknames too.' Remus joked. Sirius laughed in return before beginning to nibble at his toast.

'Yeah, I guess it rubbed off on me after a while.' He wasn't feeling particularly hungry but he wasn't all that hungry but he ate it anyway since Remus had made the effort to bring it to him.

For a moment he wondered if that had been Remus' plan all along, bringing him food knowing full well that he wouldn't want to turn it down after Remus had gone through the bother of bringing it to him. He supposed it was part of a _let's make sure Sirius eats _scheme. Remus was like that, always taking care of everyone else even though he was the one with the most problems.

'I uh...I had a word with McGonagall as well. Told her you didn't really want to go to the Great Hall cus of Regulus. It was quite a good idea; she gave me your choices form to bring up.'

'Choices?' he asked ignoring the rest of Remus' sentence. Remus had clearly said it in a way that he thought it would sound like he'd made up a random excuse for him. But Sirius knew that Remus had picked that excuse knowing full well that Sirius _did _feel like that.

'Yes, we get to pick some knew classes to take.' Remus said handing Sirius his form.

Sirius began reading through the form. He had to take the usual classes but got to pick to electives. He could choose from: Divination, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies.

'I've pick Ancient Runes and Muggle studies.' Remus said casually.

'Cool,' Sirius said with a smile before leaning over and choosing him classes quickly.

'What have you picked then?' Remus asked curiously.

'Care of Magical creatures when you have Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies.' Sirius said simply.

'Muggle Studies?' Remus said clearly surprised by the second of his two choices.

'Well, I'm already the first Black to be in Gryffindor so I may as well keep up with my shocking actions.' He joked lightly.

'Don't do it just to make a point Sirius, you'll regret it.' He said sadly.

'Yeah well I don't believe in Arithmancy or Divination anyway, it's rubbish.'

'Exactly why I didn't take them.' Remus replied with a smile.

'You didn't fancy Care of Magical Creatures then?' Sirius asked somewhat sadly.

'Well, I quite fancy Ancient Runes anyway. But I supposed that...well the problem is I couldn't really. I wouldn't want to raise any suspicions about my...problem. You see, other creatures can pick up on things and well they would probably act badly because I'm not entirely...'

'Sane?' Sirius joked awkwardly.

'Human,' Remus cut in with a small appreciative smile.

'Your still human Remy.' He said firmly.

'Anyway, I've known for a long time that I wouldn't take it. I couldn't risk the other creatures giving me away.'

'The creatures.' Sirius stated. 'Not the other ones, you're not a creature.'

'I'm not exactly a hundred percent Human either Sirius.'

'You don't need to be. You're a Remus and that's all that matters.' The two boys shared a look but Sirius wasn't entirely sure what the significance of this was.

'Anyway,' Remus began awkwardly.

'Yeah, I should start getting ready.' He replied feeling cold as soon as he left the warmth of Remus' bed. He gave a small shiver before heading over to his own bed and trunk and began pulling his clothes out of his trunk and top speed.

'Oh,' Remus said suddenly, causing Sirius to spin round half dressed.

'What?' he asked as he continued pulling on his clothes, Remus looked at him somewhat strangely before continuing:

'McGonagall's reminding people she wants their Hogsmeade Forms in.' Sirius turned his back to Remus once more pretending to be turning his socks the right way out.

'Didn't get mine signed.' He said quickly, he wanted to turn around again but couldn't face the look he knew would be on Remus' face. That apologetic look that made him feel so awkward. It wasn't as if it was Remus' fault so he didn't see why he should receive an apologetic look from him.

'Talk to McGonagall.' He reasoned in response.

'No point.' Sirius concluded.

'But she'll understand, just explain that you were at the Potters' house all summer. You weren't able to get it signed.' 'It's fine.' Sirius said shortly feeling instantly sorry for being so harsh with Remus; he was just trying to help after all. He turned to face Remus once more, still only partially dressed.

'I'm sorry.' He said softly.

'Its fine Sirius, I understand.' But he could still see the hurt expression residing in Remus' eyes.

'What I mean is...I'll sort it out okay.' Remus nodded in return giving him a small smile as if returning back into his shell. Sirius hated that he had caused it and bounded across the room and onto the bed to pull the other boy into a hug.

'I mean it okay, I'm sorry.' He whispered. Remus nodded once more hugging him back. 'Merlin Remus' he laughed.

'What?' he asked looking confused.

'I swear you like...radiate heat or something.' Remus gave a chuckle in response and Sirius began laughing lightly once more still holding onto him. It wasn't until they were sitting in silence that Sirius realised just how long he had been holding onto the scarred boy.

He pulled away feeling somewhat awkward before jumping off the bed and heading towards the dormitory door.

'Come on Remy, don't want to be missing any new classes now do we?' he smiled and with that Remus followed him to the door and they began their journey to find the others.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Shorter than usual but I'll just pretend that my excuse is that I wanted the chapter short and sweet :P**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	22. Chapter 22 Hogsmeade

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters

'Morning' Sirius grinned happily, throwing himself down to sit next to Remus at the Gryffindor table. He got a reply from two of the three marauders but the third was staring down the table with a small smile on his face.

'Morning James' he said pointedly, trying to gain the boy's attention.

'He's been like that all through breakfast!' Peter complained. Sirius took this as his queue to lean across the table waving an arm wildly in fro not the bespectacled boy's face.

'You awake in there?' Sirius joked prodding at James head with one of his long fingers. This got his attention fairly quickly and James swatted away his hand, blushing at being caught staring.

'So much for your big denial about liking Evans.' Sirius laughed.

'She's not so bad.' James replied looking somewhat guilty.

'James, what have you done?' Sirius asked suspiciously.

'Fancy some toast?' James asked quickly, pretending not to have heard Sirius' last sentence.

'James,' he said warningly.

'It's not so much what he has done, but more what he is planning on doing that he thinks you will not be happy about.' Remus said softly, trying to create a calm atmosphere.

'Which would be?'

'Well it's just that, we don't get trips to Hogsmeade all that often and you guys would all still be able to go together-'

'You're not going to Hogsmeade?'

'I am, it's just...I was thinking of asking Lily if she wanted to go with me.

'Like a date?' Sirius asked in disbelief, James was actually dropping them all on their _first ever _trip to Hogsmeade.

'I know we worked really hard to get your slip sorted so you could go to Hogsmeade-'

'-Whatever James,' he cut him off angrily.

'Siri-'

'-It doesn't matter, there will be other trips.' He said in what hoped to be a flippant tone. He couldn't believe that James had blown them all off to attempt to woo a girl that thought he was little more than an average git.

Remus was looking at James in that way that let you know that Remus was disappointed in you and James was currently squirming uncomfortably under the boy's gaze.

'I am sorry, you know.' James said sadly before getting up and heading out the Great Hall after the red-haired girl who was currently on her way out.

'It's just a crush, he'll get over it soon enough and we'll all go back to normal.' Remus said in an attempt to comfort Sirius.

'It's fine Remy honest, she'll turn him down anyway.'

'What makes you say that?'

'The fact that she thinks he's an immature, arrogant little berk?' he laughed.

'It still doesn't change his intentions though does it?' Peter piped in unhelpfully and Sirius saw Remus shake a head at the boy out of the corner of his eye.

'I...I mean,' Peter stuttered.

'Don't worry about it Pete. We are going to have a great day in Hogsmeade, regardless of James' sulking.' He said with a smile.

'About that...' Remus began, 'How is it that you're able to go now?'

'Got it signed,' he said simply, but Remus looked unconvinced and quite rightly so. It was signed; it just wasn't signed by his parents. He and James had worked out a spell to cover his tracks and stop it from looking forged.

The walk to Hogwarts had been unbearable. They had to listen to James never-ending complaints about how Snape was a greasy, evil git and how Lily had been unfairly caught in a friendship with the boy that she was unable to escape.

In actual fact, she didn't look like she wanted to escape whatsoever. James was just annoyed because Lily had turned him down and he had later found that she was actually already going to Hogsmeade with Severus Snape.

'I don't get why she likes him anyway, I mean, he's a Slytherin. They're all into dark arts and that kind of stuff.'

'They're only friend James, and that's not going to change because you decided to suddenly show an interest in her.' Remus reasoned with a smile.

'Yeah, well she's gonna end up getting hurt and then he's gonna end up getting hurt.' He mumbled unhappily.

'Oh Lily!' Sirius mocked throwing himself into Remus' arms dramatically. 'You must stay away from the dark Lily. Snape is the dark and I am the light. Walk towards the light and we can live happily ever after in a big mansion with a hundred angry red-headed children with messy hair and glasses and there we will grow old together and send Christmas cards to Snape simply to rub in the fact that I won your fair hand'

Remus pushed him of chuckling in an amused fashion leaving him open to attack from James who tackled him to the ground.

'You shouldn't wind him up you know.' Remus said lightly.

When they finally reached the village James had to admit defeat and had to allow himself to be dragged off in the opposite direction of Lily Evans.

The very first shop they entered was Honeydukes. Sirius had found himself to be in complete and utter awe at the amount of sweets in one shop. There were Acid Pops, Cockroach Clusters, Fizzing Whizzbees, Liquorice Wands, Pepper Imps and assortment of strange flavoured lollipops that he couldn't understand the reasons for wanting as well as the obvious choices such as Every Flavoured Beans and Chocolate Frogs.

The group had split up and went searching around the shop for their own items and Sirius had spent a ridiculously large amount of time looking through strange and sometimes heavenly smelling items before coming across a counter covered in different shapes and sizes of Sugar Quills as well as having them in a deluxe version which Sirius found himself intensely intrigued by but had decided not to waste money on.

He scooped up ten sugar quills and had just begun his journey towards the counter when he spotted Remus who was staring at an assortment of different chocolates and was shuffling his money around in his hand as if trying to think what he could afford off of the small amount.

James had walked up behind him and suddenly configuring the perfect idea in his head he grabbed all the sweets out of the boy's arms he headed off towards Remus.

'Hey, whatever you're getting just chuck it on the counter with this lot. My treat, I'm buying everyone's sweet supplies for this trip.' He grinned encouragingly.

'Are you sure?' Remus asked uncertainly.

'Yeah, it's not like I'm particularly short of cash so I figured I'd treat my friends since it's the first trip and all.' Remus moved forward and picked up a few chocolates before handing them to Sirius.

'Don't skimp Remy; you may as well suck me dry while you can.' He laughed. 'After all, the parents are bound to cut me off soon and this is my splash before the rest of money starts getting saved up.

When the four boys eventually left the shop they were loaded with an assortment of sweets and treats. The boys had spent a small fortune whilst in the shop and Sirius would have been highly unhappy if it wasn't for the fact that Remus looked so extremely happy as he munched his way through several bars of chocolate during their trip. They had strolled through most of the shops before long including Zonko's Joke Shop where they had bought but a few items-still not needing to stock up from their summer trip to Gamble and Japes in Diagon ally- and Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop where James had bought each boy a unique Quill claiming that it was all part of a new plan he had.

'Now what?' Peter asked, his small eyes darting between James and Sirius awaiting an instruction as to what they would do next.

It was then that James caught sight of a certain greasy haired boy and his red-head friend who were heading into the The Three Broomsticks.

'Let's go get a drink before we head back.' James said enthusiastically, leaving the other's to follow him. Sirius caught Remus' eye and they shared a secret laugh. If this kept up much longer James pride was sure to get hurt. But in the meantime the rest of the group could watch their friend's hilarious attempts at interaction with the opinionated girl.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	23. Chapter 23 Speaking of Werewolves

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Please take your seats.' Professor Burse said coldly as soon as the class walked through the door to Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Sirius took his usual seat at the front with Remus with a groan; he hated this class for two reasons: firstly the teacher seemed to despise him and secondly the desk next to his and Remus' was vacated by Severus Snape and Lily Evans.

He sighed loudly swinging on the back legs of his chair in irritation; there was nothing worse than having Defence Against the Dark Arts first thing in the morning.

'Chair on the ground Black.' The ageing man said harshly as he walked past him.

'Can't stay out of trouble for a minute can you Black?' Snape muttered loud enough for only the two boys and their partners to hear. Deciding he wasn't going to rise to Snape's baiting during this class he ignored him causing the greasy boy to smirk in an amused manner.

'Today, we are going to be learning about Werewolves.' The professor began, sweeping forward to the front of the room.

Sirius felt himself tense up instantly and instantly wanted to hit himself for his stupidity. If he felt tense Merlin only knew what Remus must feel like. He looked sideways and the saw that Remus had turned even paler than usual, making the scars on his face look far more prominent than usual.

'Now can anyone tell me another word for a Werewolf?' he asked the class.

Severus Snape raised his hand.

'Yes, Snape?

'A Lycanthrope, Sir.'

'Correct' the man replied with giving him a complimentary nod of the head. 'Anyone know any other names for a Werewolf?'

There were uncertain murmurs but no one raised their hands.

'Now, that was a common knowledge question.' He said harshly to the rest of the class. 'I am here to teach you the lesser known facts and fill in whatever gaps need be.'

He then walked towards the board and pointed up at the number on it.

'You are to read these pages, and then answer the questions that follow.' He stated. 'If there is anything that you do not understand then read passage again, if you _still _don't understand then you may ask for help.'

The class opened their books and began working away, whilst chatting amongst themselves. Sirius could practically feel James' and Peter's eyes looking towards his and Remus' desk.

Sirius turned his chair slightly so that his chair was slightly inclined towards Remus. Blocking the pale boy from the view of the others at the front of the room.

'You okay?' he mumbled quietly. Remus didn't say anything but Sirius could see the fear in Remus' eyes. He couldn't bare the seeing the boy looking so genuinely frightened, couldn't bare seeing him on edge as he waited quietly in hope that nobody would piece everything together and realise his secret.

'Oh Remy,' he said softly but Remus tore his eyes away instantly and shook his head still telling Sirius to drop the subject. Sirius was torn. He wanted nothing more than to pull the other boy into a never ending hug but refrained from reaching out to him, knowing that it would only gain them attention which Remus couldn't afford to get.

That had been the longest lesson of Sirius' life; he had been unable to pay proper attention to his work and hadn't actually written anything during the time spent in that classroom.

The boys had left the room, Sirius and James throwing random conversations about in an attempt to seem no different from any other day. But if anyone had looked closely they would have seen the worry in each of the boys' eyes.

The rest of the class had hurried onto their next class-History of Magic- and the four boys deliberately hung back so they could have a quiet minute before entering their next class. They hadn't needed to say anything, simply sharing a group hug and continuing onto the next class. This had irritated Sirius slightly; he hadn't wanted to be part of a group hug. He had simply wanted to hug Remus himself. He was fairly certain that Remus would have appreciated a proper, comforting hug instead of James usual idea of a group hug being able to solve anything.

They sat down and Sirius felt irritated, all he had wanted was to comfort his friend and he hadn't even got the chance to do that.

James sighed dramatically in a mocking fashion, clearly amused by Sirius' apparently frustrated look. James was now grinning up at him from beneath his glasses.

'What the big sigh for James? Lily turned you down again?' Sirius teased, but there was a slightly harsh tone to it that seemed to have made James unsure whether they were joking around or not.

'Play nice Sirius,' Remus chuckled but Sirius knew it was fake; he had chuckled simply to try and relieve the tension between his two friends. Deciding that it was best not to give into the awkward tension in the group Sirius gave James an _I was joking_ smile. Remus was bound to be on edge as it was and the group acting differently would only make things worse for him.

'Why don't we try out our lovely looking quills?' Sirius grinned at his friends happily. He then pulled one side of his robe back and plucked a red and gold quill from the inside.

The four boys had been working on a charm so that they could use the quills on any piece of parchment and have the message appear in front of whoever they had designated the message too. All they had to do was simply write down the initials of the person they were sending to and the initials of the person sending followed by the message and it would arrive at one of the four boys.

'Right I'll start.' James said excitedly, this was their first time using it in a class.

_To: SOB, RJL, PP_

_From: JP_

_This is so cool! We could do this easily in any of our classes it would just look like we were taking notes_

James stopped scribbling away and the writing disappeared before appearing on all three of the other marauder's parchment.

_To: JP_

_From: RJL_

_You do realise that the teachers won't believe that you or Sirius are taking notes-it's not as if that's a regular occurrence, is it?_

Sirius laughed loudly causing many people in the class to look at him as if he was insane. Which he supposed he could understand, after all as far they were concerned Sirius had began laughing without any cause.

_To: JP, RL, PP_

_From: SOB_

_Firstly, he has a point James and you know it. Secondly the whole class thinks I'm a lunatic and thirdly how come me and Remus have to put down our middle names? It's not our fault your parents couldn't be bothered picking middle names for the two of you._

The three boys bent over their parchment to read the message that had just appeared before scribbling their replies.

_To: SOB_

_From: JP_

_Hate to be the one to tell you mate but everyone already thinks you're a lunatic anyway and because I'm the one that performed the charm so it's up to me mwahahaha_

_To: SOB_

_From: PP_

_In all honesty you kind of are a bit lunatic-ish. Also it's not our fault we don't have middle names, plus our parents might not have bothered giving us middle names but they bother more now than your parents do...no offence_

_To: SOB_

_From: RL_

_I get the distinct feeling they might have though you insane before now Sirius. Another thing – it's not "me and Remus" it's Remus and I- Which you already know because I've told you before._

Sirius grinned at their replied but was suddenly interrupted mid-thought by Professor Bins.

'I think you'll find that Mr Lupin was right boys. Seeing James Potter and Sirius Black apparently writing notes is enough to grab any teacher's attention and make them suspicious. Put it away boys.'

The four boys all attempted to look guilty but as soon as the Professor had went back to droning on about when the Ministry of Magic had first been formed, the four boys succumb to giggles.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

'**Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	24. Chapter 24 A Most Exciting Discovery

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Sirius you gotta come quick!' James' hollered as he pulled the covers back off of Sirius who was groggily looking up at his messy haired friend in confusion.

'James, its two o'clock in the bloody morning!'

'Trust me, this is our greatest discovery yet Siri!' he shouted ecstatically.

'Discovery?' he grumbled, still half-asleep.

'Yes, and you have to come and see it now!'

'Okay, okay.' He mumbled as he climbed out of his bed with his eyes half-shut. 'What about the others?'

'Pete was with me, he's still there now. We'll need to wake Remus up though.'

'Your shouting did that well enough, I'm afraid.' Remus said calmly as he pulled back the curtains of his own bed looking decidedly tired.

'Well come on then, what are we waiting for!' James exploded jumping up and down.

'Calm down James, you look like a five year old on a sugar-high.' Sirius laughed.

They headed down the stairs to the Common Room and out the portrait hole, beneath James' cloak which always irritated the fat lady who couldn't name them as culprits for their night-time wanders.

They continued down and down through the many floors of the castle before finally reaching the staircase which led down to the Hufflepuff Common Room.

'Why were you even down here James?' Remus asked suspiciously as they continued down the staircase.

'Well I was bored and Pete agreed to go for a walk and we just kind of let our feet take us here.' He said flippantly.

'Where are we going James?' Sirius asked in an irritated tone, he was extremely tired.

'Patience, Siri.' He teased.

'It better be good Jamsie.' He teased back causing the boy to glare unhappily at the use of his _nickname_.

They stopped suddenly at a rather large portrait of a bowl of fruit.

'A bloody portrait? What's it gonna show us James? A piece of fruit that can burp the alphabet?' he said in mock enthusiasm.

James reached forward and touched the pear, in what looked to be a tickling motion. For a brief moment Sirius thought James had finally lost it, went completely insane. It then turned into a doorknob and James opened it up with a grin.

The three boys went in hurriedly and James turned to face them, throwing his arms out to theatrically.

'We found heaven boys.' He grinned happily. 'We found the kitchens!'

Sirius was suddenly wide awake, eyes bulging in surprise as house elves rushed forward towards them offering an assortment of different foods; everything from sausages and eggs to treacle tarts.

'Than-thanks.' Sirius said uncomfortably as he accepted a jam doughnut. He was beginning to wonder if he was in fact dreaming. He spared a look towards Remus and saw him unsurely accepting a piece of chocolate gateau.

'We would get in so much trouble if we got caught.' Remus said out loud.

'We'll have to be sure not to then.' Sirius grinned back at his friend. Remus who had seemed uncertain at first was smiling now, he seemed to be enjoying the fact that for once their night-time adventures were harmless and not involving endangering their selves or other students. Either that or he was grateful to finally have something to do that didn't involve them doing some cruel act to Snape.

'This is fantastic James.' Sirius complimented.

'Wasn't me, Pete found it.' James replied proudly throwing an arm around the small, chubby boy's shoulders. Sirius grinned and jumped up to pat his friend on the back. It wasn't often that Pete accomplished anything of significance and he wanted to make sure that Pete felt important, even if it was only for a small amount of time.

'Good stuff, mate.' Sirius said encouragingly making the boy blush wildly, unused to receiving compliments.

'I can't believe this; our two best discoveries have both been in the last month!' James said happily.

It had only been three weeks prior that they had found a secret passage leading to the basement of Honeydukes sweet shop in Hogsmeade and the boys had frequently used to stock up on sugar quills and chocolate frogs.

They spent at least an hour stuffing their faces before heading back up to the Common Room with their arms full of more food to store in their dormitory.

'Now, whenever I feel the need to have a midnight snack I can just go to the kitchens instead of going all the way to Honeydukes.' Sirius laughed loudly as they sat down upon his bed, hiding items of food beneath his bed and saving one particularly large piece of chocolate gateau for him to eat at that moment. He offered the other boys a piece each since it was so large but both James and Peter had declined, apparently to full to eat any more. Remus, however, was not one to turn down anything of a chocolate nature and had accepted readily. Sirius broke the piece in half handing one part to his scarred friend.

'It's a pity we found that place so late on in the year.' James sighed, leaning back onto his bed and using his hands as a make-shift pillow.

'Yeah, but we can use it loads once we get back after the summer.' Peter said enthusiastically.

Sirius suddenly didn't feel like eating the food that he held in his hands. There was little over a week left before he returned home for the summer, and Sirius wasn't looking forward to meeting his father after his sudden disappearance the summer before.

But he had decided that he wasn't going to bother playing the whole good child act. He didn't care if his parents hated him; he wasn't going to change despite what they wanted.

'You know,' Peter began unsurely. 'I was thinking, maybe you guys might want to come stay at mine for a bit during the summer...I mean, if you don't want to then-'

'It's cool Pete,' James encouraged warmly. 'Sound like a plan to me, you can show us some muggle stuff, right Sirius.' He added to grab his friend's attention.

'I dunno mate,' Sirius said awkwardly.

'Oh, I suppose you can't really just run off like last time, they'll be expecting it.' James said sadly.

Sirius suddenly felt extremely angered, it wasn't fair that he couldn't just ask to go to his friend's house like any other person his age.

'You know what Pete, count me in I'll be there! If my parents aren't happy about it then that's their problem.' He said defiantly.

'Don't go riling them up Sirius.' Remus whispered worriedly.

For a moment Sirius wondered if James had told Remus about his father hitting him the previous summer, but he shrugged the idea off soon after, James wouldn't go talking about his personal life behind his back...would he?

'You know, you could always go to mine to sort of throw your parents of track so they don't track you down to Pete's, they're likely to just forget about it if they think you're at mine.' James reasoned.

'You're probably right; it probably hurts their pride less to think that I'm staying with a pureblood.' He said bitterly.

'Just try to stay on their good side, okay' James said, mirroring the worried look that Remus had just displayed.

His eyes wandered over to where Remus was sitting, he had a look of concern splayed across his pale face and was staring at him, eyes full of distress.

'I'll be fine,' Sirius said firmly to them, feeling far less certain than he sounded. But the others looked unsure of his sincerity. With a sigh he motioned the other marauders over to his bed, pulling them into a big group hug knowing that it would ease James' mind slightly.

He couldn't help but groan inwardly, he was going to be squashed when he awoke the next morning. He got the feeling that the other boys were unlikely to return to their own beds now.

'You guys worry too much,' he said dismissively as he lay back on his bed, pulling the cover up from beneath the others. The four boys curled up in the bed, barely fitting compared to how they had when they had been a smaller size.

Sirius couldn't help but over think his return to Number 12 as he lay in the dimly lit room, and the last thing he had seen before succumbing to sleep was the anxious eyes of Remus Lupin watching him closely as if trying to think of some way to prevent him from returning home.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Oh, how the years at Hogwarts go quickly...and I'm getting so attached to this story too. **

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	25. Chapter 25 Return to Number 12

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

The last week of term had gone ridiculously fast and before he knew it Sirius was walking through the door to Number 12. Apon entering the house he and Regulus had been greeted by their parents who had been waiting for their arrival.

Well it wasn't much of a greeting really, they had simply wanted to tell them that they were to remain upstairs and stay quiet until their evening meal and were told that they were having guests over to dine with them.

'We will have words later.' Orion Black told Sirius firmly, giving him a cold look.

He and Regulus both dragged their trunks and shared a look of curiosity, it was then that Regulus seemed to remember that he shouldn't be speaking to his brother and he looked away quickly before rushing off in the direction of his own room.

He made his way further up the familiar creaking stairs and walked sadly into his bedroom, closing the door behind him silently. Compared to the Gryffindor dorms his room seemed darker and more depressing than being in potions class.

He began unpacking slowly; pulling out his Gryffindor Quidditch team banner he smiled sadly. He couldn't put it up, if his father saw it he'd be smacked so hard that even Mrs Potter wouldn't be able to make it disappear. He opened his cupboard to put away his clothes when he suddenly had a fantastic idea.

For once he was glad to have pureblood parents, it meant he could do magic without getting caught by the ministry-who would assume that his parents had performed he magic-he smiled as he placed a quick sticking charm on it so that the banner would stick across the inside of the roof of his cupboard.

He then began unpacking all his other objects-most of which got stuffed beneath his bed. Finally he came to the last item; a picture of the four marauders-they had convinced some small lonely looking first year boy to take the picture for them-in it the four boys were laid down beneath their favourite tree by the lake; Sirius was grinning wildly as he held James in a headlock-who had decided to stick his tongue out and cross his eyes in as ridiculous manner-Remus was sat next to him, leaning against the tree in a relaxed manner and was rolling his eyes and chuckling at the two boys. Peter-who was on the boys' other side was on his side laughing hard at his friends.

Sirius smiled fondly at the photograph before placing it inside his pillowcase to make sure it wasn't found by anyone. He suddenly felt extremely lonely; he would give anything to be back in the arms of his friend. He smiled as he thought of the group they had shared before going their separate ways. They had all held on so tight and for so long that Sirius could still smell the light trace of his friends' scents on his clothes. He smiled softly, feeling like it helped him retain some sort of connection with them was oddly comforting.

'Master Black, your meal is ready and your parents await your arrival.' Kreacher said from the doorway before turning away, muttering bitterly as he went.

Sirius _despised _that stupid house-elf. It was nothing but a cruel, conniving little beast, he thought bitterly.

As he entered the dining room he was surprised to see that, for once, the whole table was filled. Except for one single seat across from Regulus where Sirius sat silently.

Looking towards his parents Sirius felt instantly worried, they looked uncomfortable and his father was leaning subconsciously towards Regulus in a protective manner.

Sirius looked around the table recognising most of the people at the table-all of whom he knew to be the kind who practiced the dark arts-the only people who he hadn't seen before were the three men sitting at the end of the table, opposite end from his father.

As he looked at the man furthest away, directly across from his father, he suddenly felt extremely on edge and a chill ran down his spin. The man seemed to be...smelling the air? It was then he noticed that the stranger was now staring at him intently, eyes full of curiosity and amusement. But the dark smirk on the man's lips gave Sirius the feeling that this man's idea of amusement was far different from his own.

'Sirius can you pass the gravy please?' Regulus said unexpectedly. Sirius took a second before passing the gravy offer quickly. He wondered, if only for a moment, whether Regulus has deliberately gained the table's attention to stop the stranger from staring at Sirius.

He began quietly eating his food, chewing slowly and watched his brother closely. Regulus' eyes were darting towards the stranger whose hair was terribly matted and greying in an uneasy manner.

It wasn't until the late hours of the night that Sirius was awoken by a small knock on his door.

He scrambled out of bed, hair sticking up oddly, and opened the door to find Regulus standing outside pyjama clad and looking distinctly unsure whether he should really be there or not. Regulus hurried quickly into the room, closing the door behind him to avoid being seen by their parents or Kreacher.

'What do you want Regulus' he sighed, if this was some stupid trick to get more dirt on him then he wasn't going to play nice.

'I...I had to wait until they went to bed.' He said awkwardly.

Sirius sat down slowly upon his bed and patted the bed, hinting for Regulus to do the same. But he remained where he stood, gazing out the window in thought.

'So...' Sirius began for him.

'I...I just thought you should know, that...that guy who was at dinner-'

'-The one who kept looking at me funny?'

'Yeah, he's...father says not to go anywhere alone with him, to avoid him whenever possible.' Regulus looked scared and his voice was barely above a whisper.

'Who is he?

'Fenrir Greyback.' He replied quickly.

'But who is-'

'I don't know Sirius! I don't know much about him, father wouldn't say, all I know is that even father is afraid of him. He says that...that he would hurt me if he got the chance, that he likes hurting young people...I wasn't sure to tell you at first I mean...your older than me but...he seemed so fascinated by you.'

So his suspicions had been right, Regulus _had _deliberately tried to distract the stranger away from him. Maybe there was some good in him after all, he would still go down the usual path that all Black's did but maybe he wouldn't be quite as severe as the others.

'Yeah, in all honestly he kind of gave me the creeps.' Sirius admitted and for a brief second he felt as if he and his brother were getting on fine again, like they had before he had left for Hogwarts.

Regulus seemed to have picked up on the vibe because he suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable and rushed towards the door.

'Night Reg.' Sirius said sadly from his bed, but his brother gave no sign of having heard him.

But that wasn't the last Sirius saw of Fenrir, he had begun making regular appearances in their house, hanging around and giving the house an eerie feel.

Orion Black seemed to be constantly on edge, and had taken to having his family close by him whenever possible-even Sirius, although Sirius figured that was due to the fact that his father simply didn't want the hassle of having to deal with an injured Sirius.

Sirius had made a decision, he was going to be a man and suck it up. At that moment he had just arrived at the door of his father's study and, taking a breath to calm his nerves, he knocked loudly-hoping to give off a calm, mature vibe.

'Enter' his father's voice called in an irritated manner.

Sirius walked in, making an effort to stand straight and proud in a way that he hoped made him seem far more grown up than he felt. The room contained four people; his father, his mother, a cloaked man whose face he could not see and Fenrir Greyback.

'Yes, Sirius?' his father asked impatiently.

'I was wondering...that is, I just wanted to ask if...well if maybe I could stay at my friend's house for a while at the end of the summer.'

'Your friend's house' his father stated, clearly shocked that his son had had the guts to ask permission.

'Ooh, and who's this friend of yours?' Fenrir rasped with that dark smirk appearing once more, he was looking at Sirius with a knowing smirk. What exactly Fenrir seemed to think he knew was beyond Sirius.

'Answer him then.' Orion insisted.

'James...James Potter.' He said trying to retain his firm disposition.

'And will any of your other friends be going?' Fenrir asked curiously with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

'Not that I know of.' He replied in a low voice. He got the feeling that Fenrir knew something he didn't.

'Well then, I'm sure you're much better off here.' Fenrir smirked. 'We can get to know each other better.'

'You may go if you wish.' His father said coldly.

Sirius felt his breath catch in his throat; surely he had misheard his father. He couldn't figure out why he was willing to let him go.

'I uh...I'll go and pack then.' Sirius said warily. But his father did little more than nod in return.

He bolted all the way to his room enthusiastically; he was going to be free of this horrid place.

'He's only letting you go so that he doesn't have to keep an eye on you.' Regulus said from the doorway.

'What do you mean?'

'Nothing, just that it's less hassle for him if he doesn't have to babysit you.'

'Well I don't care much about the reason Reg.' Regulus turned and walked away without looking back.

'Watch your back Reg!' Sirius called loudly. 'I don't trust that guy.'

Regulus turned as if he wanted to reply but changed his mind at the last minute and rushed off.

Sirius pulled his cupboard door open grabbing the banner once more before going over to his bed and pulling out the photograph from his pillowcase. He then hastily put them in his trunk and headed downstairs towards the fireplace.

'Potter Household, Godric's Hollow.' He said clearly and he dropped the Floo Powder and began his journey to the Potter's house.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	26. Chapter 26 Splash Goes the Marauders

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Sirius, you made it!' James shouted happily, jumping up from his seat and pulling him in to a hug.

He then placed Sirius at arm's length and looked him over, as if checking for any signs of damage.

'I'm fine James,' he said in an overly bored tone, rolling his eyes and immediately reminding himself of Remus as he did so.

'It's pretty late so I told Peter we'd come over first thing in the morning' James explained.

'What about Remy?' Sirius asked.

'He's going tomorrow too, but he'll be away the last few days since it's...you know, that time of the month.' James replied awkwardly. Sirius felt his spirits go down slightly as he thought of Remus' transformations, it was unfair that he couldn't just have a carefree vacation like the rest of them.

'When...'

'No worries, he said he'll meet us on the platform, he'll be okay in time for Hogwarts.'

Sirius nodded in return but was saved from the chance of their conversation turning awkward by Mrs Potter who had just walked into the room.

'I thought I heard your voice.' She smiled happily before walking forward and pulling Sirius into a hug. He couldn't help but smile at James mother, she was always so nice to him yet unlike most people who did so it wasn't at all patronising.

'Well I figured you'd be upset if I didn't come stay for at least one night.' He joked causing the old women to laugh.

'Well, supper's nearly ready so you boys go get changed and I'll send some food up your way before you go to bed. You need a good night's sleep if you're getting up early.' She told them matter-of-factly.

The two boys did as they were told and ran up the stairs, thudding loudly as they went. The changed quickly, sitting down on James bed waiting eagerly for their food to arrive.

'Your hair is getting a tad long, don't you think?' James teased pretending to try and strangle Sirius with his own hair, the problem being that it wasn't quite long enough to manage that just yet.

'So it's a bit long,' he replied flippantly. 'At least it's tidy, unlike certain people.' He teased back.

Suddenly Sirius nose was filled with the glorious smell of Mrs Potter's cooking as it floated into the room.

'Good night boys,' she called up the stairs.

'Night Mrs Potter'

'Night Mum.' They called simultaneously.

'Do you think she really thinks we're going to sleep?' Sirius asked with a small laugh.

James tilted his head, as if pondering it carefully.

'Nah,' he laughed loudly before diving into his food.

When they awoke the next morning they rushed downstairs fully awake and excited at the prospect of going to Peter's house for the first time. They were both excited by the idea that they would be able to do muggle things-Peter's dad was a muggle-and Sirius was particularly excited about the promise of going to a carnival.

Peter had explained the concept to him but he had only partially understood what his chubby friend had been speaking about.

With a rushed goodbye to the Potters he and James had hurried into the fireplace and had quickly found themselves in the brightly lit sitting room of the Pettigrew household.

They room was extremely clean looking and quite small compared to those of Sirius' and James'. The room had large brown seats with bright orange and green cushions and the walls were adorned with large colourful paintings and Sirius found he was quite surprised by the cosy appeal of Peter's house.

'Hello dears, I suppose you're Peter's other friends?' Sirius jumped, he had been so distracted by the pictures that he hadn't noticed the plump, kind looking women who was sat at in the corner next to a an old looking piano.

'Hi, Mrs Pettirew.' James said politely. 'I'm James and this is Sirius.' He explained giving her his trademark grin.

'Well, I'm afraid lunch won't be ready for a good few hours yet.' She replied softly. 'So, why don't you boys go out into the garden, Petie and Remus are out there already.'

They did as suggested and headed out the back door into the Pettigrew's garden. The garden was scarily well kept and there were all sorts of flowers growing in perfect lines around the area and there was a stream running along the edge of it.

Peter and Remus were sitting with their feet dipped in the water, chatting away still having not noticed them.

Sirius felt himself grin as he nudged James in the side to gain the boys attention. Understanding perfectly James nodded in return grinning back at him mischievously.

They crept up behind the unsuspecting boys, barely managing to contain their laughter. Before throwing themselves unexpectedly towards the two boys and causing them all to land with a _splash _in the stream. The two boys had given shouts of surprise at being randomly tackled into the water.

The four boys spluttered as the coughed water up.

'I can't believe that worked!' James choked triumphantly.

'James Potter, expect to be retaliated against.' Remus laughed, water dripping from his now wet hair.

'It was his idea!' James responded quickly, pointing a finger at Sirius whose long black hair was now clinging to his face. Sirius gasped in mock indignation.

'How could you suggest such a thing James? I would never do anything that could potentially cause my Remy Wemy harm.'

'I'm not falling for it Sirius.' Remus chuckled, eyes twinkling with laughter.

The four boys climbed up onto the dry grass laughing loudly and were met by the amused look of Mr Pettigrew who was staring down at the boys clearly finding the situation quite funny. Mr Pettigrew was a thin man with sandy coloured hair and had small watery eyes, much like Peter's.

'I suggest you come to the garage and dry off before you go in the house, my wife won't be very happy if you get puddles all over her clean floor.' He was smiling in a way that made Sirius feel convinced that Mr Pettigrew had once been a mischievous youth.

He led them towards his cluttered garage and the boys had gotten clean towels from the shelves and dried themselves off rather quickly.

'Now, I have something to show you young boys.' He said with a smile-excitement clear in his eyes.

He led them towards the other end of the garage and began pulling back a cover on a large item.

'This,' he said proudly. 'Is my newly updated motorbike.'

Mr Pettigrew had explained what the strange contraption was and began telling them all the finer details about his motorbike.

It was a majestic blue colour and Sirius seemed to be the only person who hadn't grown bored of Mr Pettigrew's talk about his beloved motorbike.

'So what do you think of her? She's a beauty.' He said happily.

'It's great Sir,' Sirius said enthusiastically. 'But I'd prefer Red myself.' He admitted.

'Ah, a true Gryffindor I see.' A voice said from behind them.

'Just showing them it quickly.' Mr Pettigrew rushed.

'Don't go putting silly ideas in those boys' heads.' She warned her husband sternly.

'No worries, I was only giving them a glimpse.' He lied, giving the boys a mischievous wink when she looked away.

'Well lunch is ready.' She told them watching her husband suspiciously.

'She's suspicious,' Peter whispered. 'So we should be on good behaviour until tomorrow so we can go to the carnival.'

The other marauders all nodded their heads in agreement before hurrying after Mrs Pettigrew.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	27. Chapter 27 Holding You Close

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

**Just wanted to say that this chapter is dedicated to ****Chili loves you! Hope you enjoy it!**

'Wakey Wakey rise and shine.' Sirius crooned to his friends. 'Today is a very important day!'

'And why would that be?' Remus enquired, eyes still closed but smiling all the same.

'Because Remy, today we are going to the carnival!' he shouted happily. Remus made a shushing noise, finally opening his and placing a hand over Sirius' mouth to stop him from continuing his loud announcement.

Sirius made a muffled noise in return and Remus moved his hand off of his mouth.

'What did you say?' he asked, clearly having not understood Sirius' muffled words.

'I said if you don't move your hand I'll lick it.' He laughed. 'But you moved so it wasn't necessary.'

'Your disgusting Siri.' He chuckled in return.

'I know,' he said in a mock proud voice.

'Why is it that you seem to be unable to let people sleep?' James groaned from his place on the floor. The boys had moved all Pete's furniture to make room for their sleeping bags the night before.

'Because,' he said slowly as if James was a small child. 'If I left you all to wake up in your own good time, half the day would be gone.'

'And the problem with that would be what? We wouldn't have to look at your ridiculous mug all day.' James laughed, throwing his pillow at Sirius unexpectedly and starting a pillow war.

'What on earth is going on in here?' Mr Pettigrew asked, having just popped his head through the door.

'James attacked me!' Sirius said quickly before James could blame it on him.

'No-I-didn't!' James replied in shock.

'At any rate, I suggest you boys quieten down a little and tidy the room up. My wife is still sleeping, although I don't know how she can sleep through your racket.' He laughed.

'Yes Sir,' Sirius said firmly as Mr Pettigrew left the room.'

'_Yes Sir!' _James teased.

'Shut it Jamsie.' He said hitting him with the nearest pillow before rushing out the room claiming he needed to visit the toilet.

The boys had wolfed down their food at top speed, feeling extremely impatient and wanting to leave for the carnival.

When they had reached it Sirius had momentarily thought his eyes were going to fall out, from bulging so hard. The place was packed full of muggles and there was loud music playing-sounding far different from anything Sirius had ever heard-there were children happily stuffing their faces full of strange pink stuff that Peter had said was called candy floss. But none of that was what excited him, no, what excited him was the fast moving objects that Peter had said they would soon be riding.

They had gotten themselves a big heap of candy floss between them for while they stood in the queue, waiting to get on a ride that twisted upwards at high speeds-Peter had called it a rollercoaster. Sirius had taken an instant liking to the stuff, as had James and the two of them had finished if at an alarming rate. Remus however, had been highly unimpressed with the offending item and had refused a second mouthful.

He and Remus' friendly banter about the candy floss had gathered the attention of a group of muggles who seemed to have nothing better to do than stare openly at the group.

'Look at the scars of that guys face,' a tall girl stage-whispered.

'I know, I've never seen anything like it in my life.' The bulky guy next her replied with a look between curiosity and disgust.

'Well if you don't shut the hell up you'll have your own scars to worry about!' Sirius threatened angrily, stepping towards the muggle. The boy jumped slightly, clearly having not expected such a strong reaction.

Remus grabbed his arm in a flash, pulling him back quickly. Even though he should have remembered it, Remus's strength had came as a surprise and shocked him out of anger before he acted on it.

'Leave it Sirius!' he whispered. 'It doesn't matter, people always stare...I'm used to it.'

'That doesn't make it right,' Sirius replied through gritted teeth whilst trying to ignore the fact the his arm was now slightly sore due to Remus pulling him so hard by accident-he didn't want to mention it knowing Remus would feel guilty.

'We know that mate,' James added in quickly. 'They're just being stupid gits.'

'Yeah forget it Siri,' Pete added. 'A lot of the muggles around here just like sticking their noses in other people's business.'

'Yeah well they can find someone else to be nosy about.'

They then realised that they had reached the front of the queue and stepped up to get into the rollercoaster. Sirius and James in the front, and Remus and Peter directly behind them.

Sirius grinned happily, the ride had just begun moving and they were making their slow ascent to the top. He loved the feel of adrenaline pumping through his veins; he turned his head slightly and shared a grin with James who looked just as excited as he felt.

When they got off the ride Sirius had felt slightly strange but he immediately wanted more, he wanted more rides, more adrenaline-

But then he noticed the strangely coloured face of Remus Lupin who had turned a strange shade of colour.

'You okay Remy?' James asked clearly having noticed the same thing as Sirius.

'I don't think these rides agree with me.' He said weakly. Sirius gave him a small smile, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders.

'You need a seat?' he asked caringly.

'I'll be fine in a minute.' He smiled back.

'You want anything?' he asked with a nod towards the food carts.

'No, I'm fine, we didn't come all this way for everyone to sit staring at me...go enjoy the rides.'

'You sure?' Sirius asked unsurely, not really wanting to leave him.

'You heard him Siri,' James said rolling his eyes at his friend.

He allowed James to drag him off towards more rides whilst Remus and Peter headed off towards the Ferris Wheel.

Sirius had enjoyed his day beyond belief; the four boys had spent an hour of their day continuously going on the dodgems back to back. Sirius had had so much candy floss that Peter had joked that Sirius would lose all his teeth. He had also been introduced to the wonder of fizzy juice. Sirius had to say that muggles had invented a great many treats that were better than wizard treats but he had still yet to find anything that could compare to Sugar Quills.

When they had returned home Mrs Pettigrew had made them supper and the boys had barely any room for it as they had eaten nothing but rubbish all day. But they had politely accepted and ate as much as they could bring themselves to before heading up to Peter's room.

They had gave up on the idea of using sleeping bags and had convinced Mrs Pettigrew to simply use an expansion charm on Peter's mattress and they had made it big enough for each of them to fir twice if they had needed it to.

'So,' Peter began lightly. 'What have you guys been doing with your holidays?'

'Nothing much,' James said in a bored tone. 'There isn't really much to do, my parents aren't really interested in anything good...I mostly spent my time visiting family members.'

'I haven't done much either,' Remus said admittedly. 'My dad works a lot of shifts so I didn't see much of him, and my mum tends to be busy so...' he didn't continue but the others understood that there was no point in pushing the subject.

'Gotta be better than mine anyway.' Sirius said in an attempt to cheer the others up.

'Why? I thought things went well?' James said suddenly, looking worried.

'Well yeah I suppose, I mean...there wasn't much arguments and I didn't have to sneak off.'

'I wondered about that.' James said curiously. 'Why did they just let you go?' All three sets of eyes stared at him intently.

'They had company and...Well one of them was apparently dangerous...has it out for younger people...they didn't want to have to keep an eye on me.' He said simply.

'What do you mean has it out for young people?' James said looking puzzled.

'I don't know much really,' he said with a shrug. 'All I know is that my father clearly didn't want him hanging about the house but didn't have the guts to tell him to bugger off.'

'This...person, they must be pretty dark if your parents are frightened by him right?'

Sirius nodded in return, feeling slightly sick. He and Regulus weren't close anymore but he didn't like the idea of that guy hanging around his little brother.

'Who was it? Did they give a name?' James asked, Sirius had to admit James never-ending curiosity could be annoying at times.

'Not exactly, but, Regulus said his name was Fenrir Greyback.'

'Weird name huh?' James contemplated. But there was a stunned shock when Remus suddenly threw up.

'Holy shit!' James shouted, standing up quickly to avoid getting any sick on him.

'Should I get my mum?' Peter squeaked in a worried voice.

'No!' Remus spluttered. 'I'm fine, I...I'm so sorry Pete.' He whispered looking close to tears.

'It's fine Remus,' Sirius said quickly, moving over to take his wand from his trunk.

'Sirius you shouldn't do magic outside-'

But Peter was cut off by Sirius who uttered a cleaning spell quickly.

'See, it's fine.' Sirius said softly, placing a hand on Remus' shoulder.

'You still feeling sick from earlier?' James asked, still standing as if not convinced that the sick was really gone.

Remus shook his head in reply, looking so pale that Sirius was worried that he was going to faint.

'No, I...I know who he is.'

'Who?' Sirius asked suddenly feeling confused, what was he talking about?

'G-Greyback' he whispered.

'What do you mean?' James said dropping down onto the mattress. 'Who is he?'

'He's the one who bit me, the one that turned me into a...a...' he didn't finish, his voice sounding like a whimper but they all knew what he meant.

Sirius felt sick himself. He had spent most of his summer in the same house as the person who had transformed Remus and he hadn't even known it.

Then suddenly it clicked in his head. That first night, he hadn't just been curious because Sirius was young...he had smelled the air as soon as Sirius had entered. He had been able to smell Remus' scent on him from their earlier hug.

Sirius couldn't believe it, he had never felt so angry in all his life, but he pushed his thoughts and feeling aside and moved forward, wrapping his arms around Remus comfortingly. And for once, his friends did the clever thing and didn't disrupt him. They sat quietly, watching as Sirius held the pale boy in his arms tightly, as if trying to squeeze away the boy's pain.

'I uh...I think I'm going to get a glass of water.' James said pointedly, and understanding Peter muttered something but Sirius didn't care enough at that moment to listen and the two boys left the room deciding it was best to give them some space.

'You have no idea how much it scares me that you were that close to him Sirius.' Remus whispered quietly once the others had left.

'Trust me Remus; I won't make that mistake again-not if I can help it.' He whispered back.

'Y...you have n...no i...idea what he's like, he's not a normal werewolf, he enjoys hunting and hurting people...it's like a hobby to him. He plans who he attacks.' Sirius felt sickened, did that mean that Remus' attack had been planned? He wasn't sure whether he wanted to know the answer and decided to leave it as it was.

'He's a sick maniac,' Sirius said angrily.

'He's dangerous Sirius.' Remus said looking up with pleading eyes. 'Promise me, if...if he's there when you go back next summer...promise me you'll leave straight away...go to James' or something.'

'I promise Remy,' he said pulling the boys even closer to him-if that were at all possible.

How long they sat like that Sirius didn't know, what he did know was that he fallen asleep that night with his quivering friend tucked safely in his arms. The last thought he had before going to sleep was that he would never, ever let anyone hurt Remus again. As for Greyback, he'd get revenge on that son of a bitch, as soon as he next laid eyes on him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	28. Chapter 28 Home to Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Remy!' James shouted ecstatically as he ran towards his pale friend, pulling him into a big hug.

'Calm down James!' Sirius laughed as he appeared behind the faster boy.

'It's hasn't even been a full week since I left Peter's house.' Remus replied, eyes twinkling with amusement.

'Yeah, watch it James...he might still be...you know...sore' Sirius said cautiously.

'No worse than usual.' Remus replied with a small smile.

Remus was looking at him expectantly and it took Sirius a minute before he realised what his scarred friend was waiting for. Pushing past James he pulled Remus into a big hug, smiling happily at the fact that the four marauders were once again together.

'Let's get our seats than,' James said awkwardly, giving the two boys a slightly confused look before turning and heading towards the familiar train.

They were extremely unhappy to find that, for once, they couldn't get their normal seats. A bunch of seventh years had vacated their seats and Sirius and James had made a point of complaining loudly about the "arrogant sixth year arseholes" as they walked away from the compartment.

The only compartment they found that had enough room left for all four of them was occupied by Lily Evans who was sitting engrossed in a conversation with Severus Snape, as they opened the door the two fellow 4th years looked at the suspiciously.

'What do you want?' Lily shot at them, ready to defend her friend if need be.

'Calm it Petal,' Sirius teased. 'We're just looking for a place to sit; our compartment got nicked by some Ravenclaw pricks.'

'Fine, you can sit here so long as you don't pick fights.' She said warningly.

'Yes sir!' Sirius said saluting, but his reference to her as a _sir _had clearly not impressed her.

'Just ignore him,' James said sitting down opposite the red head and shooting her a grin.

'I plan on it.' She said shortly and turned to face Snape once more.

'Woah, someone's cranky.' Sirius joked, but James elbowed him in the side, indicating that he should shut up. Sirius suddenly felt extremely irritated by his friend's behaviour. James was his best friend, hell he was like the brother Sirius had never had, and he was giving up their jokey nature to try and impress a stupid girl.

He looked over to Remus, who gave him a small amused smile before turning towards Lily.

'So what did you think of the homework for ancient runes?' he asked, clearly trying to create a harmonious atmosphere in the carriage.

'It was much better than what we'd studied so far.' She said enthusiastically.

'I was thinking along the same lines really.' Remus said with a smile. 'Hopefully we'll be looking further into that section when the term starts.'

'So,' James said, turning towards Sirius. 'You gonna try out for Quidditch this year?'

'I wasn't really planning on it James.' He sighed, he didn't really get James obsessive love for Quidditch, although he supposed it was probably due to the fact that he had never attended a match before coming to Hogwarts.

'But three of the players have left now! It's the perfect chance.' He said persuading.

'I'm not that into Quidditch James,'

'Hell, Pete could probably get on the team the way things are looking.' James said in a huffy voice, clearly not happy that his best friend didn't want to join in with him.

'Not everyone loves Quidditch James,' Remus cut in reasonably.

'He's right, you know.' Lily added. 'Not everyone is as obsessive about Quidditch as you.'

Sirius, for once, was grateful that Lily was nearby. Her statement had been enough to make James drop the subject, and although he didn't thank her in any way Remus had gave her a thankful smile for him.

Sirius couldn't help but smile, Remus always seemed to be able to read him perfectly, always knew when to back off and when-although Sirius was often hostile-to comfort him. Remus Lupin, Sirius decided, was a human wonder.

'Siri,' James said loudly, grabbing his attention, and Sirius was surprised to see James hand waving in front of his face.

Sirius let his eyes flicker upwards slightly before slapping James hand away.

'You were totally off in your own world mate.' He laughed.

Sirius would have blushed, except he wasn't the type to blush. So he did what he always did when he felt awkward, he began joking about.

'Sorry mate, was just doing an impression of this really weird Gryffindor I once saw, he was totally staring at the other end of Gryffindor table.' He laughed causing James to blush alarmingly and hit him over the head.

But Sirius couldn't pretend not to notice the look of annoyance of Snape's face from having to sit with the marauders. He looked incredibly irritated by their presence.

'What's up Snivellus?' Sirius asked. 'No snide remarks today?'

'Just wondering if any of you planned on growing up.' He drawled in a bored manner.

'What?' Sirius said, feeling irritated by the boy's cheeky tone.

'No snappy comebacks today?' Snape sneered, imitating Sirius' earlier tone.

'You greasy son of a-'

'-Oh shut up Black, as much as you like the sound of your own voice, it isn't quite to everyone's taste.'

Remus and Lily both stood up quickly, placing themselves between the pair.

'Now Sirius, why don't we got changed into our uniforms?' Remus suggested, trying to distract from the current situation.

'Fine,' he snapped, and felt instantly sorry. Although Remus was now used to Sirius' ever changing temperaments he still looked hurt whenever Sirius was short with him.

'I'm sorry Remy,' he said quickly.

'It's fine Sirius,' he replied calmly.

He hinted at the other marauders to join them and the group headed out the room and down towards the toilets.

But they didn't return to the compartment, choosing to sit in the train's corridor.

It wasn't until they were all the way up in the dorms later that night that Sirius had realised with delight that this year would be far less stressful than usual, he wouldn't have to put up with his cousin's and their little group of evil wannabees.

Sirius was the only person awake now. The others had all went to bed, bidding him goodnight, whilst he had changed and found himself sitting at the window edge staring out upon the glowing moon.

He thought instantly of Remus. He wished desperately that he had never mentioned Greyback that night. Remus hadn't slept well since, clearly disturbed to have the man in his mind once more. Knowing Remus he was probably going through all the what-if's and could have beens, horrified that his own friend had been so close to the Werewolf without knowing.

He hated to think of Remus suffering, as he would with any of his other friends, he thought to himself. But he felt, almost as if there was a voice in his head saying; _"but you're not like that with the others are you" _In all honesty he couldn't really explain his friendship with Remus. He had always felt quite protective of his pale and initially shy friend.

He and James were best friends, no, more like brothers really. But although he would defend James to the end of the earth, he always made sure to let James fight his own battles to certain point before involving himself. As for Pete, well he never seemed to need defending simply because people tended to forget he was there to insult. Sirius swore that Snape deliberately hurled insults towards Remus at times simply to see if Sirius would rise to the bait.

Of course, he did. That much was evident. But there was no way he could just sit by and let him be intimidated or hurt by Snape, or anyone else for that matter. Remus had enough to deal with without stupid berks purposely upsetting him.

He could hear Remus shuffling about, tossing and turning in his sleep. He wanted nothing more than to wake Remus up and comfort him. But he knew better, Remus would only be embarrassed; he would see it as a weakness. Sure Sirius wanted to protect him but he also knew he needed to try to let Remus stand on his own feet. He was by no means a pushover, and people knew that anyway. But people like Snape would simply continue to make comments solely to wind Sirius up and cause trouble for the marauders.

With a groan Sirius moved, his back was stiff from sitting in an uncomfortable position for so long. Shuffling over to his bed Sirius was instantly relieved when he lay down in his bed. Turning to his side he glanced towards Remus' bed once more feeling frustrated.

This was ridiculous, he decided unhappily. Sure Remus was one of his best friends but the fact that he was lying in his bed unable to think about anything other than his shy, peaceful and kind friend was absurd. He never got like this over his other friends; it was always Remus that had him wide awake and worrying, and often over trivial matters.

He couldn't figure out why he was thinking or feeling this way. It made no sense to him. Turning desperately to face in the other direction he gave a loud _humph _noise. It made no difference he still couldn't get his friend out of his head. He pressed his face into his pillow in frustration...and it didn't help that the pillows at Hogwarts were annoyingly thin. Although he wondered if it simply seemed worse than usual because of his inability to sleep.

Turning over again to face Remus direction he groaned once more...this was going to be a long, long night.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	29. Chapter 29 Found Out

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius groaned loudly, dropping his down on top of the ancient book that was currently laid out on the table.

'You've not siriusly gave up already?' James joked, enjoying the over-used pun on Sirius' name.

'I can't stand this James!' he complained loudly, causing the librarian to stare over at them warningly. Sirius shot her an apologetic look and he swore she blushed slightly.

Sirius seemed to have a natural knack of being able to get away with things simply from shooting people his trademark grin and-if they looked particularly unhappy-a wink.

'We knew this was going to be hard Sirius.' James said shortly, clearly irritated that they were in the library instead of eating in the great hall like the rest of the school was.

'I know but...I think I've learned more about animagus' than anyone with on the Ministry's bloody list!' He complained.

'Well we can start preparing for the practical side then.' James suggested.

'Do you think Pete's ready?' he asked. In reality he wasn't entirely sure any of them were ready, the process of becoming an animagus was extremely difficult, otherwise lots of people would have became one.

'Well, he'll have us...and there's a spell in here somewhere!' James said, flicking back a few pages with determination.

'What kind of spell?' Sirius asked feeling slightly worried.

'One that turns you back into your human form...hopefully it works if we mess it up as well.' James had gone slightly pale, one of their books had had illustrations of transformations gone wrong...it wasn't a pretty sight.

'Right, well we best get moving...don't want to miss breakfast!' Sirius said, hopping up to his feet and putting the large books away.

James perked up instantly, a cheesy grin spread across his face at the prospect of food.

Remus and Peter had already left for the class by the time the other two had reached the Great Hall and Sirius had ended up having to walk to Muggle Studies on his own, something Sirius hated doing.

'Where were you this morning?' Remus asked apparently unsure whether he should be worried or suspicious.

'In the library.' Sirius shrugged, throwing himself down into his usual seat next to Remus.

'The library?' Remus said disbelievingly. 'Why would _you _need to go to the library?'

'Because, my friend, I am a very kind, loving, loyal-'

'-Get on with it Sirius.' Remus cut over him looking amused.

'Well Remy, You see I was in the library with a certain friend of mine who apparently doesn't understand the function on a brush.' He got the reaction he wanted, Remus rolled his eyes in that oh so familiar fashion of his, refusing to laugh but unable to keep the amusement out of his eyes.

'and?'

'If you'll be more patient then I'll explain.' He teased. 'Anyway the point is, that we have now, most likely, read every book in the library that so much as mentions...' he looked around to make sure no one was listening. 'anything about becoming an animagus'

'I thought you'd given up on that idea.' Remus said looking genuinely puzzled.

'I stopped talking about it,' Sirius corrected. 'I would never give up on it.'

'Good morning class!' Professor Milne greeted them. When no one replied she looked slightly crestfallen but smiled encouragingly at her class.

Muggle Studies was the smallest class Sirius had, there were only five people in the class and that was including him and Remus.

'Well, today we are going to be learning about the many methods of travel that muggles have available to them. Can anyone name any?'

Remus raised his hand calmly and she smiled widely at him, bearing her ridiculously white teeth.

'Some travel by car.' He said simply.

'Correct,' she smiled happily. 'Can anyone think of any others?' she asked clearly not expecting any more anyway.

'Motorbike,' Sirius said clearly, not bothering to raise his hand. He couldn't help but feel quite smug at the surprised look on her face.

'And where did you learn that?' she asked sounding impressed that Sirius had answered something instead of relying on Remus like he normally did in her class.

'Pete's dad's a muggle.' He said with a shrug. 'I got to see his one during the summer. Don't think he's ever actually rode it though...he just likes to do it up every so often.'

'I see, and what did you think? Do you think it's a good way to travel?'

'Dunno, but it's pretty damn cool.' He grinned causing the others in his class to give him disapproving looks for his lack of interest in the actual travel part.

'Well, I'd like you all to look up as many forms of travel as you can and write an essay about the advantages and disadvantages.'

'Yipee' Sirius muttered sarcastically.

'You chose the class Siri,' Remus chuckled.

'I was young and misguided.' He replied dramatically, throwing his arms around Remus pretending he was begging forgiveness for his previous choices.

'I'm sure given the choice to change things you would take Arithmancy instead?' Remus said with mock understanding.

'Okay, so we both know I wouldn't...it doesn't make this class any more enjoyable though.'

The rest of the day went fairly quickly for Sirius; James had been chased by a niffler after he had accidently angered it as well as managing to blow up his potion by adding to much tail of something or other, which had definitely not impressed the students who were nearest as they got covered in a strange yellow slime that they were unable to get off for the better part of the day.

James and Sirius were just returning from their most recent trip to Honeydukes via the secret passage when they had bumped into a rather worried looking Remus, who had just exited from the library at top speed.

'Woah there Remy!' James shouted to get the boys attention. Their scarred friend turned quickly, looking quite upset.

'What's wrong?' Sirius asked, his voice lowering slightly.

'N...Nothing, I...I'm fine.' Remus lied.

'No you're not,' Sirius said in an exasperated tone.

'Has someone said something to upset you Remy?' James cut in, taking on a look that showed he was ready to go get revenge on whoever it was.

'Was it Snape?' Sirius asked sharply.

'No...It...' Remus didn't seem to want to continue.

'Who was it then?' James questioned.

'Lily...Lily Evans.' He said, turning even paler.

They headed up to their dormitory, giving Remus a bit more privacy to continue. This was where they found Peter lying on his bed in a relaxed manner doing his potions essay.

The group all entered with a serious looks on their faces and a clear, unusual silence which drew Peter's attention instantly. Following the boy over to his bed the group all took seats atop of Remus' neatly folded covers.

'So...what did she do?' James asked unsurely, clearly not wanting to know anything that might damage his view of his precious little crush.

'She,' Remus began, taking a deep breath to steady himself. 'She figured it all out.'

'You don't mean-' James began but he didn't need to continue as Remus gave a nod in return before continuing;

'She knows I'm a Werewolf, she...she says she hasn't told anybody else but-'he stopped halfway through his speech seemingly unable to continue. Lily Evans may well have been extremely irritating in Sirius' opinion but she didn't seem like the type to spread gossip. However, considering none of the group really knew her all that well and Remus was clearly unsure whether or not he could trust her.

His eyes were filled with worry and he could see the boy was clearly fretting inside his head.

'What amI going to do?' he asked weakly.

'Nothing, you don't have to do anything Remus, I'll sort it out...I promise.' Sirius said confidently, as if he thought he could somehow transfer his confidence into Remus if he over emphasised it. Leaning forward he gave the boy a quick hug before jumping to his feet and declaring that he would be back in a minute.

Sirius strode down the stairs, and upon reaching the Common Room scanned through the students, looking for a certain redheaded girl. She wasn't hard to spot and he headed straight for her.

'We need to talk.' He said plainly, trying to attract the attention of others. He seemed to have gotten away with it due to the fact that he wasn't as easily noticed without his usual group of friends.

'Um...Sure.' she replied cautiously, giving the girl she had been studying with a quick excuse and gathering her things.

They left Gryffindor tower and made for the nearest empty classroom.

'What do you want Black?' she asked in a tone that suggested she wanted to get their conversation done and over with as quickly as humanly possible.

'Apparently you know about Remus.' He stated.

'I suppose you know as well then,' she replied in the same tone.

'Clearly,' he said in a harsh tone.

'So did he tell you or did you figure it out for yourself?' she asked.

'Of course I figured it out!' he snapped. 'It's not exactly something that people randomly drop into a conversation is it? He wouldn't willingly tell people and risk the repercussions.'

'Big word for you isn't it, repercussions?' she joked.

'I'm not in the mood for jokes Evans,' he said warningly.

'Then, what exactly is the point of our conversation?'

'I needed to make sure that you aren't planning on telling anyone.'

'Why would I do that?' she asked, sounding highly offended.

'I don't know, but I swear on my own bloody life if you breathe a word of this to anyone I _will _make you pay.' He replied in a lowered, threatening tone.

'How dare you! I can't believe you really think I would do something like that!' she shot back, face reddening with anger.

'Look Petal, I don't know you well enough to know what you're capable of but I do know that Remus doesn't deserve to have people messing with him and more importantly I won't let anyone mess with him. He has enough on his plate as it is and I'm not going to let the chance of you telling people about him keep him up worrying every night for the rest of his time at Hogwarts.'

'Look, we don't get along.' She said simply. 'But I do like Remus and as much as you think I'm this super-evil sidekick to Severus, I am _not _going to announce his lycanthropy to the whole school.'

'Yeah, well you better keep your promise.' He said menacingly before heading towards the door.

'You are a complete and utter arse, Black.' She said in an irritated fashion.

'I'm not that keen on you either, Petal.' He replied with a hint of annoyance.

'You know, for someone who claims to give a damn about anything your surprisingly defensive about your friends.'

'Whatever Petal.' He said dismissively, pulling the door back.

'Black!' she shouted out to get his attention.

'What?'

'Remus is lucky you know...to have you as a friend. He's lucky because, despite his...problem, he still managed to find someone who cares so much about him. It just goes to show, that although lots of people judge you by your surname, you don't give into it, you've done something most witches and wizards wouldn't, you didn't run away from him...you did what any decent person should do, you stayed beside him anyway. That's real friendship.' She was talking in a far softer tone now, and the way she had finished her speech gave Sirius the impression that she longed for such a friendship herself.

Sirius didn't reply to Lily, choosing to walk away in silence but he felt a slight sense of pride at her words. He wasn't like the rest of his family, he was a good guy.

Upon reaching the dormitory he had two words for his fellow marauders.

'It's sorted.' And the way in which he said those words had an immediate effect on his nervous friend who gave a sigh of relief and smiled gratefully at him.

'Thank you Siri,' he said in such a small voice that he could have easily not heard it at all.

'That's what friends are for.' He replied softly, throwing the boy a chocolate frog from his own stash.

It nearly broke his heart that Remus had been put through such a worrying, albeit temporary, panic. If anyone deserved a break, deserved to be left along and allowed to just live his life without the constant fear of being found out, it was Remus. And Sirius was going to do his best to make sure that Remus remained safe, and hidden from those who would be prejudiced against him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

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**-mybloodsingstohim-**

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**Hyperteenager24**

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**Fizzy-Flo**

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**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	30. Chapter 30 A Permanent Connection

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Oh Sirius, Sirius wherefore art thou Sirius?' James emphasised loudly in the middle of the great hall, pretending to try and find him.

'Have you been reading Pete's bloody muggle books again?' Sirius laughed loudly.

'Actually Sirius, it's not a book it's a drama.'

'It always is with you.' Sirius mocked openly.

'That hurt Sirius, everything I do, I do so with the utmost respect. I am not dramatic-I am perfectly serious.'

'No my dear Jamsie-pie, I think you'll find that _I_ am Sirius.' Remus and Peter both placed their heads in their hands, clearly sick of puns on Sirius' name.

'And you complain at me for using ridiculous puns.' James teased.

'I felt the situation deserved one.' Sirius shrugged, grinning madly.

'Anyway,' James began, eyes flickering happily with a new idea.

'Tell me this isn't going to be something to do with Snape,' Remus said disapprovingly.

'It's not,' James replied.

'Or something that will get us hurt,'

'Nope.'

'Or put us in detention.'

'Nope,'

'What could possibly interest you that doesn't involve any of those things?' Remus teased lightly.

'Quidditch-' Sirius joked.

'-that could involve him getting hurt.'

'Lily Evans-'

'That would definitely involve him being hurt, most likely by hex,' both boys burst into a fit of laughter as James gave them a _that's not funny_ look.

'Sorry James, what did you want to say?' Remus broke off, recovering his composure.

'I _was_ going to tell you that I had started making a list of all the secret passages we've found in our time at Hogwarts and that instead of going to Hogsmeade we should spend the day searching for more while there is less people in the castle to see us.'

'Ooh, that could be interesting...' Sirius pondered.

'That's what I figured you would think.' The bespectacled boy laughed in return.

'I wish we had a time turner just so we could have an infinite amount of time to find these things.'

'I know it's so time consuming,' James sighed loudly.

'You'd think someone would have made a map of this place.' Sirius laughed.

'Why don't you do it then?' Remus challenged him.

'That's a great idea Remy!' James cheered enthusiastically.

'Well, we all have to contribute to the map; I'm not doing it on my own.' Sirius told them, them of how big the map would have to be in order to show all of Hogwarts.

'Pete, you can draw it...you're the only one of with the skill to draw a straight line never mind a whole map.' James said enthusiastically.

'Right and you can make that list of yours longer, you need to write down every place that you can think of to put on the map and then we'll go for a walk about later so we know where everything goes.'

'What about you and Remus?'

'I'll look for charm so that we can modify it to show who's where at all times...that way we can go on our wanders without being caught.' Sirius grinned enthusiastically.

'Well, that's sort of an invasion of privacy...'Remus trailed off thoughtfully.

'Aww come on Remy it's only a laugh, we're not using the thing to stalk people.' James pleaded.

'No I didn't mean we shouldn't do it, just that we would get in _a lot_ of trouble if we got caught...I'll look for a charm to stop anyone other than us from being able to see it.'

'This is going to be _so _cool once it's done.' James rushed excitedly.

'Why is it that we just add more and more things to our to do list when we've still not managed our original task of becoming you-know-whats.' Sirius joked.

'I don't know...I think it has something to with this guy I know, he's bit of a weirdo really...maybe you know him, he's got long black hair-almost like a girl-'he began joking but Sirius was not amused at being referred to as a girl

'No James, I think you'll find that all of our little ideas are actually your ideas. Oh wow I figured it out.' He shouted dramatically as if suddenly realising something.

'What?' James said in a suspicious voice.

'You have so many ideas that there is only one possible explanation as to where you get all these ideas from.'

'And what is that, exactly?'

'There not your ideas at all! The ideas come from your hair, I mean I should have realised that you were actually being controlled by your hair. I mean, it practically has a life of its own.' Sirius received a hit over the head from his messy haired friend.

'Bugger off Siri.' He laughed.

'Watch your language Jamesie!' Sirius announced in mock offence. 'Somebody important could be watching and deciding that you are far too foul mouthed to actually date.'

James whipped round quickly, scanning the room for Lily before Sirius burst out laughing, indicating that he had successfully tricked his friend.

'You're a git Siri' James said huffily.

'Trust me she won't care about your language, she'd be contradicting herself if she told you off for swearing when it's clearly a hobby of hers.'

'I've never heard her swear.' James said looking confused.

'Well I'll have you know that she called me "a complete and utter arse"'

The look of surprise of James face was so amusing that Sirius found himself the subject of a new bout of giggles.

They then had separated-Sirius and Remus going to the library and James and Peter heading outside to look at the castle in order to remember more parts of the school.

When they met up later that night they found themselves extremely happy, Pete had managed to draw a fair amount of the castle throughout the day and had assumed he'd be finished by the end of the weekend. Sirius and Remus had both been successful in finding their much needed charms and James had made such a ridiculously long list of the places in Hogwarts that the task suddenly seemed far more difficult than they had first thought.

'There's no point in putting the charm on to have people show up on the map until it's completed.' Sirius reasoned and the others had been quick to agree.

'There's nothing to hide yet anyway so we may as well leave the concealment charm for now as well.' Remus added.

'Anybody up for pranking someone?' James asked in a bored manner.

'Yeah, why don't we go prank Lily?' Sirius asked, testing James in an amused fashion.

'We are not pulling a prank on Lily.' He replied loudly.

'But we really want to James and marauders come before girls.' He reminded the boy, smirking widely.

'Friendship will _always _come before romance!' James said looking offended at the accusation.

'Oh really?' Sirius replied disbelievingly.

'I'll prove it.' James said determinedly.

'By doing what exactly?'

'I...I don't know.' He muttered looking defeated.

Sirius looked around the room thoughtfully before his eyes strayed towards his bedside table and an idea hit him.

'How about instead of doing something to prove yourself you make a commitment instead?' he asked. 'If the others are willing to make it too that is.'

'What is it?' Pete asked worriedly.

Sirius raised his wand using the _accio _charm to summon his quill.

'Put your hands out.' Sirius told the others. James put his arm out instantly-ready to prove himself, Remus extended his arm-unsure what was going on but trusting Sirius fully, and Pete held out his arm-looking worried as to whether this was a wise move.

Sirius held his hand out, and using his weaker hand drew a slightly uneven circle-a quarter of it on each boys' hand.

'If everybody is willing then we can put a charm on it so that it's permanent.'

'Permanent,' Pete squeaked looking worried that he would be pressured into it.

'Don't worry; we can permanent concealment charms on it as well.'

'Wouldn't that make it rather pointless?' Remus questioned, clearly unsure whether this was a good idea or not.

'No, we might not be able to see the circle, but we'd still know it was there-forever.' Sirius said, looking down at the circle with a small smile.

'Forever.' Pete whispered from opposite him, looking at his hand emotionally.

'Like a permanent reminder of our friendship.' Sirius nodded, looking extremely proud of his idea.

A smile graced Remus' lips at the idea and his eyes looked slightly watery.

'That...that's quite...sweet.' the pale boy he whispered.

'Who would of thought it' James joked. 'Sirius Black-bad ass extraordinaire knows how to be sweet.'

Sirius chuckled and looked up at the four boys.

'So...what do you say?' he asked.

The three boys smiled and each nodded in turn.

Sirius raised his wand and performed the spells upon each boy before doing so to his own.

For a few moments they all sat in silence, staring down at their hands. Even though the circle was now invisible the commitment they had made seemed very big now.

Sirius smiled as he looked as his hand admiringly. These weren't just his friends anymore, they were practically his family. A real family, unlike his biological one. These were the people who cared for him most, who would never do anything to hurt him and would defend him to the end of the earth. They weren't just dorm mates or friends anymore, they were family...they shared a permanent connection now...even if it couldn't be seen with their eyes.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	31. Chapter 31 Denial

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Oh shit!' James snapped. 'We are so dead, how could we have been so stupid as to get caught!'

'Um...I don't know something to do with not actually looking at the goddamn map like I told you to a hundred times.' Sirius retorted in irritation.

'Well I didn't expect Filch to be wandering on the fourth floor did I?' James replied, face reddening with frustration.

'Instead of arguing why don't you try to actually avoid being caught?' Remus added in, looking extremely frustrated with his friends for standing about idiotically.

'We're too big Remus, not all four of us can fit under the cloak anymore.' James rushed wildly.

'Right, you and Pete get under that ruddy cloak and give us the map.' Sirius said, knowing full well that Pete would be the slowest and that James wouldn't want to part with his cloak.

'But where-'

'I don't know James just give us it and we'll find somewhere,' he snapped back. James looked slightly surprised by Sirius' snappy behaviour. But Sirius wasn't bothered in the least by how he'd made James feel. At that moment all he was thinking about was how much trouble his parents would get him in during the summer if he was caught right now.

'Come on,' Sirius said to Remus and the two boys sped off in a different direction from their friends.

'Did we really need to search for _another _way to the prefect's bathroom?' Remus sighed, looking extremely worried at the prospect of being caught.

'Of course we do, after all we need to find absolutely everything in the whole castle so that we can draw it on a piece of bloody paper!' Sirius replied hotly.

'Sirius...'Remus whispered, beginning to panic now.

'Let's go along that corridor we found last week.' Sirius said quickly. 'There's no one anywhere near it!'

They went running along the corridor at top speed, Sirius hardly taking his eyes off the map as they went.

'He's catching up,' Sirius panicked loudly before Remus grabbed him by the arm and pulled him sideways into an indent in the corridor behind a rather large suit of newly polished armour.

'Stay quiet and he'll pass.' Remus whispered as they crammed into the small space, trying desperately to control their breathing so as not to give them away.

They could hear Filch walking along the corridor in a painfully slow manner.

'I know you're in here,' he called out. 'Rotten brats,' He added bitterly as he scanned the corridor for any sign of intruders.

The two boys looked at each other, trying desperately not to laugh at the man's antics. As Filch drew closer Sirius found himself holding his breath desperately and Remus moved back further-trying to avoid being seen-and squashing Sirius even more against the wall.

The two boys were now so close that Sirius could feel the other boy's body move with each breath he took and he could smell Remus' clearer than he had ever before, mixed in with the slightly overpowering smell of polished armour.

Sirius felt instantly uncomfortable, having the other boy pressed against him. He wanted nothing more than to go running down the corridor far from his currently panicking friend.

Yet, at the same time he didn't want to move. It was a rather odd feeling to have someone so close, let alone Remus, and he wasn't entirely sure whether he was enjoying the closeness or not.

Filch passed the boys and continued down the corridor and Sirius let out a breath slowly trying to avoid making too much noise. But they seemed to have gotten away with it; Flich had been gone for a fair few minutes now and Remus turned his face looking up at Sirius as if asking whether it was safe to move or not.

But their eyes caught and Sirius found him unable to look away from the pale boy's wide eyes. It wasn't until they heard a whisper from further up the corridor that Sirius snapped out of his temporary trance.

'Are you guys down here?' James voice called out in as quiet a manner as he could manage.

Remus shuffled out from behind the suit of armour, blushing slightly and unable to meet Sirius' eyes. He instantly felt like he was missing something, wishing that his friend was still pressed against him and missing the warmth he had provided. Following suit Sirius moved and pulled out the marauders map once more, searching for the caretaker.

'He's headed up to the fifth floor now.' Sirius confirmed his voice shaking slightly as he tried to regain normal breathing. Whether that was due to the running or his closeness to Remus he was unsure, and that genuinely terrified Sirius.

'Right we should head back up to the Common Room for the night.' James told them firmly, apparently still worried about nearly being caught.

'Yeah, Filch will be looking for excuses to get us now, and we don't have the whole school mapped out so he might manage to find us without us realising first.' Peter added worriedly.

Remus gave a small murmur type noise to show that he agreed and seemed to be looking at anything but Sirius at that moment, had he felt it too? Remaining silent he walked with the other marauders, lost deeply in his own confused thoughts.

The four boys headed straight up to Gryffindor Tower and were unsurprised to find it packed full of ridiculously over-excited students.

'So?' James started awkwardly as they all sat in front of the fire.

'So?' Sirius repeated wondering what James was thinking. 'What's up?' He asked looking confused.

'What do you mean?' Sirius asked, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

'You've been really quiet since we came up.' James continued looking concerned. Sirius shrugged in return unsure what he could say to quell the boy's curiosity.

'Are you okay?' Pete asked quietly, looking worried.

Sirius gave a resigned sigh but nodded in return to the chubby boy's question.

'I'm fine, just...I dunno.' He said honestly, feeling completely lost in his confusion.

'Well you should be ashamed of yourself either way Siri' James laughed. 'There's a 5th year girl standing beside the window, she's been staring at you for the past ten minutes and you haven't even noticed never mind the fact that you haven't attempted to embarrass her.'

Sirius turned to look at the girl James had mentioned and she went red in the face from being caught staring. She was a tall girl with long black hair tied back tightly in a ribbon that was tied around the full length of her hair, criss-crossing in a strange fashion.

Usually he would have winked at her jokingly to make her even more humiliated but he refrained from doing so, thinking only about his lack of feeling towards that her or any other girl he knew.

James was constantly going on about Lily as if she was some sort of angel and his eyes seemed to follow her everywhere she went. But Sirius had never been like that, he had never been particularly attracted to anyone in all honesty. He liked people sure, but only as people...as friends, he hadn't ever really thought about the possibility of getting himself a girlfriend and what not. He had always been too over-involved in the on-goings of the marauders.

He hadn't ever wanted to date anyone, hadn't ever looked at a random girl and thought _"Hey, I wouldn't mind snogging her" and _yet he had been left breathless and completely turned into a mess simply from being close to his light haired friend.

Sirius thought instantly that this was a very strange thing and decided that it was simply down to the fact that he hadn't ever been that close to someone in such an enclosed space.

He didn't _like _Remus, that was ridiculous...wasn't it? No, he wasn't like that...he wasn't...you know...He decided at that moment that he was being ridiculous, he might have never had a girlfriend but that was because he had chosen not, he thought firmly.

Giving the group a quick grin, he stood up quickly excusing himself and saying he would be back soon.

The other three boys looked at him in surprise. Sirius wasn't one to pay much attention to anyone outside their group unless they were a target for a prank, let alone a girl.

Walking over to the girl he smiled confidently causing her to blush further. As he reached her he suddenly realised he wasn't entirely sure what to do next.

'Fancy going for a walk?' Sirius asked slowly and he seemed to have gathered the room's attention with his unusual behaviour.

'It's after dark,' she replied unsurely.

'Well, why don't we just go and get ourselves somewhere to talk.' He said shooting her a grin.

'Sure,' the girl said back shyly as she brushed the hair out of her eyes.

Together they made their way out of the room and headed for the stairs. Sirius heard James whistle loudly at them, causing many to laugh. All accept one who was looking at Sirius in a rather strange manner. Sirius had been able to read Remus Lupin since they had met and Sirius felt his stomach drop uneasily. At that moment Remus was wearing a look of utter confusion and something else...he looked...hurt?

But Sirius had barely felt the guilt sink in before he was pulled further up the stairs and out of sight from the scarred young boy.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

Miso Muchi

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

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	32. Chapter 32 Fights and Forgiving

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

**I want to say a big big big THANK YOU to my reviewers for getting me past 100 Reviews! It means a lot to me =)**

The sun was shining and the grounds were swamped with students, it was-as usual-quiet and peaceful but today wasn't like every other day. Today Sirius was stalking around the grounds in a bored manner, he had been convinced to come outside by a 6th year girl with short blonde hair-whose name he had forgotten-but had quickly got bored of her constant conversations about what bands she was planning on going to see during the summer holidays.

He was beginning to wonder if there were any interesting girls at Hogwarts, he couldn't even find any to have friendly banter with like he usually had with Lily Evans. Well, maybe their banter wasn't exactly friendly...but it was still fun anyway.

Sirius had steadily pulled away from the other marauders since their _adventure _to find another way to the prefects' bathroom. He found himself struggling to remain normal around Remus since that day, and had begun spending more and more time with random girls in an attempt to rid himself of the boredom that took over him without his fellow marauders to joke around with. In all honesty he couldn't stand being away from them, missing them a ridiculous amount and wanting to pull them all into a group hug whenever he saw them sitting together.

James seemed to realise that Sirius needed some alone time and had backed off respectfully but he could see the hurt expression whenever he chose not to sit with them at meal times and had since taken to just grabbing food from the kitchens instead. He wondered if Remus missed him too...

He was just beginning to ponder the idea when he was roughly knocked into by a Slytherin that seemed to have a serious attitude problem.

'Watch where you're going.' The brown haired boy grunted aggressively.

'You knocked into me jackass.' Sirius shot back, refusing to be pushed around by some random git.

'What the hell is your problem?' he asked, shoving Sirius forcefully.

'I'm not the one with the problem!' Sirius snapped angrily, he was _not _in the mood for this guy.

Sirius could practically hear a voice in his head telling him to leave it, that this idiot wasn't worth his time getting stressed over. He could have sworn that the voice in his head was ridiculously like the voice of Remus Lupin.

Deciding to follow the _Remus_ like voice's advice he rolled his eyes in an irritated manner before turning to walk away from the over-aggressive Slytherin.

But the boy clearly thought that this was not an acceptable response and reached out, grabbing Sirius shoulder and trying to tug him around to face him, he turned around quickly-and not because of the other boys hand.

Sirius didn't even have to think twice before throwing a punch at him. They were now gaining attention from all the other students who had begun to draw closer to the two boys, eagerly awaiting a full on brawl.

'Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!' the students chanted loudly as James Potter pushed his way through the ever-growing crowd.

There in the middle of the ring of students was where Sirius currently stood. He had just been away to throw another punch at the well built boy when he had found himself being pulled roughly by the arm, forcing him to turn around.

'What the hell are you doing Sirius?' James shouted, red in the face and looking horrified.

'James-'

'No Sirius! We are going to talk, right now.' He said forcefully, pulling Sirius off in the direction of the lake.

'This isn't anything to do with you,' the older boy growled, walking towards James in a threatening manner. Sirius jumped back in front of his friend, pulling his wand out quickly.

'Pertificus Totalus.' He shouted quickly, causing the other boy to freeze and stop in his tracks.

'Now,' James said again in a forceful tone and the two boys walked towards the lake in silence, much to the disappointment of the gathered students.

'Look, I don't know what's going on with you Sirius but your acting really weird.' James shot angrily as they reached their usual tree.

'James-'

'Sit down Sirius,' James said and watched Sirius throw himself down lazily before sitting down on the grass next to him.

'In what way am I acting weird James?' Sirius retorted.

'You've been getting into fist fights like a bloody muggle, snogging random girls at odd times in strange places and without even thinking of telling anyone where you're going.'

'And?' he sighed in a bored tone.

'And, you've barely spent any time with us in the last two weeks Siri! You've been getting up and leaving without us, you've been avoiding us at meal times and rumour has it you're even trying out for the Quidditch team. You don't even like Quidditch all that much!' Sirius couldn't help but smile slightly at his friend's exasperation.

'There is nothing wrong with me James,' Sirius replied calmly.

'Look I don't know if I've done something or whatever but if I have then I'm sorry okay.' James pleaded, looking rather pitiful in Sirius' opinion.

'You've not done anything James okay,' he said sadly. 'I've just had a lot on my mind, and I'm sorry...I've been acting like a right git. Forgive me?'

'I suppose so...'

'Really? That seemed a bit too easy.'

'I meant to add; but only if you still try out for Quidditch.' James joked and Sirius found himself laughing easily. He had missed his best friend while he had been busy with charming the female population of Hogwarts.

'Quidditch is not really my thing is it?' Sirius chuckled lightly thinking how ridiculous he had been acting. He had wanted a distraction but this had been a stupid idea.

'No, probably not...' James admitted, standing up with his broom in one hand and holding their map in the other. 'By the way, you should talk to Remy...I'm not the only one whose been missing you mate.' James said quietly to him before mounting his broom and heading off towards the Quidditch Pitch to join the others for their second bout of tryouts-their beater had thrown in the towel during their last game as he broke his arm for the second time in this year alone.

Heading up to Hogwarts he couldn't help feel guilty, it wasn't as if he had deliberately set out to avoid his friends...he simply hadn't known how to act around Remus ever since that day. But he couldn't stand being away from his friends any longer. He had been lashing out a random people and although it had been something new and exciting at first he had fast become bored with the company of random girls.

His feet stopped just short of the library, leaving him standing awkwardly unsure whether or not to enter. Remus wasn't alone, he was sitting with Peter and Sirius knew that things would only be even more awkward if he had to apologise with an audience.

Deciding to go against his instincts to take flight he headed into the library, holding his head up high and tried desperately to remain calm as he walked steadily towards his fellow marauders.

'Sirius!' Peter squeaked loudly in delight upon seeing him. Remus looked up instantly, eyes slightly wide and unsure.

'Hi Pete,' Sirius chuckled before adding: ' Do you mind if i temporarily borrow Remus from you?'

'Sirius, i'm a bit preoccupied right now.' Remus said without meeting his eyes.

'Please...' Sirius strained and Remus gave a quick nod before gathering his things up and joining Sirius head up to Gryffindor Tower.

'So...' Sirius began awkwardly.

'Why?' Remus asked unexpectedly.

'Why what?' Sirius replied feeling confused and incredibly stupid for being unable to form a proper sentence.

'Why did you stop spending time with us? How did you even manage to get through classes without barely saying a word? Why did you distance yourself from us...from me?' Remus' voice was weak, tired sounding. Then he realised that it wasn't so surprising really, the full moon was only four or five days away now. That made him feel even worse, he had been a git and when Remus was beginning to feel at his worst.

'I...I'm sorry Remus, I don't know why I did it.'

'Nonsense,' Remus accused.

'Look I'm sorry I pulled away from you, I'm sorry, to quote the perfect Lily bloody Evans herself; I was a complete and utter arse, look a...and I...I don't know how to fix things. I don't know how to make things better. I just, I don't know...I got freaked out over something stupid and I took it out on you guys okay.'

'What freaked you out?' Remus asked plainly, giving away no emotion. But Sirius got the distinct feeling that Remus already knew, he knew Remus had felt it too, that night.

'I...I just got stressed out, we came so close to getting caught and if I get in much more trouble I'm really going to get it when I get home.' Technically it wasn't a lie, he had been stressed about it-although not for a long amount of time-and he was simply avoiding the fact that it wasn't actually the reason he had reduced contact with the other boy.

Seeing Remus standing there in his weakened state made Sirius feel extremely guilty. Remus trusted very few people in this world and he had just put a dent into their carefully built trust, and what was worse was that he wasn't even being truthful with his friend now. But how could he be, what was he supposed to say to him? There was nothing he could possibly say that wouldn't be likely to freak Remus out.

Remus moved in an almost involuntary fashion, clearly wishing for nothing more than to be hugged like normal but unsure whether Sirius would be willing to accept such a gesture.

Sirius moved automatically forward, wrapping his arms around the other boy carefully in case he was feeling tender before the full moon. He hated himself for making Remus so unsure about the boundaries between them-it had been a long time since Remus had thought before making physical contact with him and he didn't want the boy to revert back to his old ways.

'I really am sorry Remy, and if I ever pull away again you have the right to hex my arse off.' Sirius told him, half-joking and half-serious.

'I really missed you Sirius,' the pale boy admitted into his shoulder and Sirius felt himself hold the boy tighter, inhaling the boy's familiar scent.

'I missed you too Remy, I missed you too.'

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

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**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

**Miso Muchi**

**SubvertNormality**

**GiggleNo9**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	33. Chapter 33 An Rather Itchy Situation

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Things had gone back to normal now, for the most part. Sirius was now spending almost all his time with the marauders again; the only time he would leave was if he was persuaded by a random girl but even then, nine times out of ten, he would refuse their advances, he only ever accepted when he was feeling particularly uncomfortable or frustrated with himself over Remus.

His problem had worsened as soon as he had begun spending time with the boy once more. He found himself trying to avoid touching him whenever possible and had even tried to avoid being too close to him simply because he knew that if he did get to close he would only want more.

'He had been thinking more and more about his feelings for his pale friend lately, and he had admitted to himself that he was-unfortunately-attracted to his friend. It was strange to think how in a few short weeks he had went from thinking of the boy as one of his best friends to being unsure what he was to him. Sure, Remus was still one of his best friends anyway – but there was something different about their relationship now.

Remus would have been the last person Sirius would have _chosen _to fall for. The Werewolf had enough problems as it was without one of the few people he trusted complicating their relationship. He sighed loudly and continued to gaze out onto the lake.

'I knew you'd be sitting here.'

Turning towards the familiar voice he couldn't help but smile.

'So it had nothing to do with you looking at the map then?' He teased his black haired friend.

'Course not, how could you suggest such a thing.' The boy joked, dropping down next to him with a warm smile displayed on his face.

'So, what brought you out here?' Sirius asked quietly, his eyes still on the glistening lake.

'I think I should be asking you that.' James said pointedly. 'At first I thought you were off with some girl or something, but Remus said you probably wanted time to yourself so-'

'-So you thought you'd come disturb my alone time.' Sirius laughed.

'Pretty much.' James said cheekily. But Sirius' mind was solely on the description of him as probably "off with some girl" he sounded like a bit of a man-slut really, it was actually quite shameful and he figured he needed to stop all his random flirting and such with girls otherwise no one would ever take him seriously.

'Sirius, what's been up with you lately?' James said sadly, his eyes were awash with genuine concern and Sirius almost told him right there and then. _Almost _being the important word there, he couldn't gather enough guts to actually tell him the truth.

'I couldn't explain it if I tried mate.'

'Why not? You've never had a problem with telling me stuff before.' James told him firmly. 'You're like the brother I never had Siri, if something's bothering you I want to know about it.'

'Look, I don't really want to talk about it okay,' he felt the harshness of his words instantly and a felt immediate annoyance towards himself when he saw a look of hurt in his friend's eyes.

'Its fine,' James said quickly, his voice slightly higher than usual.

'Look, I'm not saying I won't tell you James, just...not yet. I...I need more time to wrap my head around it myself, okay?'

'Sure, I just...I worry about you Siri, You're my best friend...'

'Your mine too Jamsie,' Sirius joked lightly but he knew that James had got the message anyway. He wrapped one arm around the boy's shoulders and used his other one to ruffle his best friend's hair, deliberately attempting to annoy the boy.

'Bugger of Siri,' he laughed loudly.

'You can't come all the way out here to tell _me _to bugger off.' Sirius teased.

'I think you'll find I just did.' James teased back, sticking his tongue out in a child-like fashion.

'Mature James,' Sirius commented in an amused tone.

'Obviously, I have you as a friend, don't I?' the bespectacled boy replied in a similar tone.

'Not for long if you keep acting like an idiot.' He laughed back, causing the messy haired teen to gasp in mock outrage.

'Oh well then, I suppose you don't want to know why I was looking for you in the first place then.' James said in a pretend flippant tone.

'That depends on what the news is James,' he grinned, feeling curious.

'The map is nearly complete.' He smirked deviously. 'Remy put the last of the charms on it just before I came to find you.'

Sirius beamed at the prospect and stood up quickly.

'What are we waiting for? We have pranks to pull my friend.'

It hadn't taken long to get up to the dorms where the other two marauders were currently located. Pete was spread out lazily across his bed, doodling on a spare bit of parchment whilst Remus was currently sitting on the window edge looking out across the grounds.

'I was wondering how long you would take to get up here.' Remus commented lightly, a small smile playing on his lips.

'Weren't watching us were you? That could be classed as stalking Remy,' James teased, flopping down next to Pete and looking over the other boys shoulder to nosy at his doodles.

'Well I guess I'm unable to resist your charms.' Remus joked back.

'More like Sirius' charms' James joked back, 'He's the one with half of Hogwarts waiting to be asked out.'

Sirius and Remus' eyes caught at that moment awkwardly, Sirius had almost wanted to smirk at his pale friend as if their situation was an inside joke of sorts.

'So who or where do you want to prank then?' James asked breezily.

'Dunno, I was thinking the Ravenclaws haven't gotten anything pulled on them for a while.' Sirius shrugged.

'Or we could get the Slytherins, they always have funniest reactions.' Pete piped up with a smile.

'Yeah, but if we prank the Hufflepuffs we can hide out in the kitchens afterwards.' Remus added.

'Sounds good to me,' Sirius added, Nobody outside of the group would have been able to guess that Remus was often the one with the best ideas.

'So Hufflepuffs it is then,' James agreed.

'So, what's the prank going to be?' Remus asked no one in particular.

'We could make them grow something...like...tails!' Pete giggled.

'Or charm things to attack them.' James smiled mischievously.

'Or charm them all to sing at random moments.' Sirius laughed.

'Nah, we should keep that for one the Slytherins so we can see Snivellus sing.' James smirked.

'How about we use memory charms on them so that they forget all about Hogwarts and completely freak out.' Sirius suggested.

'No, memory charms are too complex; we could mess up and damage their memories' permanently.' Remus told him seriously.

'I suppose...well I dunno maybe we should just do something small and unexpected.'

'Like what? A dung bomb prank?' James asked.

'Too overdone,' Remus added in with a sigh.

'Yeah your right, how about that Instant Itch Ink, Sirius? We never did get around to using it.'

'It's gone out of date though.' Sirius said unsurely.

'Great it'll be even stronger then.' James laughed.

Sirius felt his eyes wander towards Remus straight away, awaiting confirmation that it was okay to do so. When Remus gave him a small, albeit slightly unsure-but Sirius figured that wasn't to do with the prank-, looking smile Sirius grinned back accepting this as a go ahead.

Sirius began pulling random items out of his trunk and he had to dig through his overfilled trunk to find what he was looking for. He pulled out the bottle of Instant Itch Ink and grinned triumphantly.

'Let's get going then.' He shouted happily and the four boys rushed out the room with nothing but a map, a bottle of Instant Itch Ink and James invisibility cloak.

They headed straight for the corridor leading to the Hufflepuff Common Room, fully intent on unleashing havoc. When they had reached the right corridor they were bubbling with excitement, it was such a plain attack that it would be even funnier.

As soon as they reached the edge of the corridor they had began levitating the Instant Itch Ink and floated it up above the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room. All they could do after that was wait until the students returned from their evening meal. The four boys crept into an indent in the corridor, behind a statue and Sirius felt an immediate sense of Déjà Vu.

He didn't have to suffer that thought for long though as they weren't currently on the run and James had quickly performed an extension charm to make plenty of room for them all.

They must have sat there at least an hour before anyone appeared, but when the Hufflepuffs returned it was in a very large group.

The four boys waited patiently, currently unnoticed before James leaned forward impatiently awaiting them to be beneath the Ink. With a quick flick of the wand the Instant Itch Ink flew out of the bottle, covering a large mass of people.

There were shrieks from many who were horrified to be covered in ink but the shrieks only got worse as the itching took affect causing the group to erupt into laughter-giving them away instantly, but the closest the Hufflepuffs got to seeing them properly was a quick glimpse as the boys rounded the corridor and disappeared into the school's kitchens.

'They know it was us,' Pete squeaked in a way that made them all unsure whether he frightened or excited.

'They are going to be so pissed off it'll be hysterical.' Sirius barked out.

James headed forward towards the approaching house elves, accepting their offerings of food and juice and turning to the others to hand them each a drink as they sat down ready to eat their victory meal.

'And now we toast our accomplishment.' James exclaimed happily, raising his glass up in the air.

The others followed suit, each smiling widely.

'My fellow Marauders, I salute you!' James cheered happily and the other boys cheered along with him, maybe they could still be the same old group after all. Sirius' feelings didn't change the group dynamics at all, so it maybe it wasn't as big a deal as he had initially thought.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

**Miso Muchi**

**SubvertNormality**

**GiggleNo9**

**Tanja88**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	34. Chapter 34 The Year Draws to an End

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'James...James are you listening? Dammit James!

'What?' A rather exasperated voice shouted back.

'Have you seen my book?' Sirius called back, feeling even more stressed than his currently rushing friend shouted.

'Are you joking me? Siri I'm trying to get packed!'

'So am I, have you seen my damned book James?'

'What bloody book?'

'"The A-Z guide of magical creatures"' Sirius said slowly, trying to calm himself down and stop himself from throttling the other boy.

'No, I've not seen it...it can't have gone anywhere Siri, you're the only who reads it.' James said rolling his eyes.

Sirius groaned angrily and continued searching through the mountain of stuff that was covering their dorm floor.

'Hey, have you guys packed yet? The train's leaving soon and...Whoa, what the hell happened while we were gone?' Pete's voice came from the doorway to their dorm.

'For goodness sake Sirius,' Remus voice came from the behind Peter. 'Why is it that whenever either of you two says _"its fine Remus, we won't be long."_ I'm stupid enough to think _"oh okay then" _and just leave you two to it?'

'Because Remy, you have far too much faith in people.' Sirius teased before turning to begin his search once more.

'You know, when we left this room it was fairly tidy...I would have thought it would get tidier with you two packing things away but apparently not.'

'You see Remy, too pack things away we have to pull everything out of our little hidey-holes,' James explained slowly as if Remus was a child. Remus seemed amused by his friends however, and took it upon himself to try and help.

'What are you looking for?' Remus asked, leaning over Sirius curiously.

'That book you gave him back in 2nd year.' James laughed, as if he thought Sirius was being ridiculous.

'It's only a book Siri, I'm sure you'll be able to get a new one in Diagon Ally.' Pete piped up in a friendly tone.

'I don't want a new one Pete! Most of the things I own are new and I would appreciate managing to hold onto something once in a while' he snapped.

'Sirius-'

'If you want me to apologise then you'll have to wait.' Sirius commented in a dismissive manner.

'I was going to ask if you'd thought to look on the windowsill...that is where you usually read isn't it?' Remus said, and Sirius could see that he was clearly doing his best not to smirk triumphantly at him.

Sirius knew in that instant that Remus was right and when he walked towards the window his suspicions were confirmed. There, right where he had last left it was his book.

'So does that mean you'll stop tearing up the room now Siri?' James teased.

'Yeah, I'm gonna tear up you instead Jamsie.' Sirius grinned, lunging playfully towards the other boys who jumped quickly out of the way. The two boys continued to jump about, from bed to bed, in a chase and catch sort of way before James' foot slipped and he and Sirius both tumbled down onto the ground landing with a _thump _in the midst of all their belongings.

'Ow!' James shouted unhappily from where he lay in a heap of now broken potions equipment. Sirius gave a groan in return, having hit his head of the edge of the bed.

'You're worse that first years, honestly.' Remus chuckled, walking towards them and pulling the two boys to their feet.

'Oh my, Remus there's two of you.' Sirius joked, pretending to feel faint.

'Hang on Sirius, the healers will be here soon, don't die on me Sirius!' James was shouting dramatically, holding Sirius head to his chest and pretending to weep.

'Oh honestly,' Remus laughed at the two boys.

'Oh honestly yourself Remy, I'm dying and all you care about is getting the train on time.' Sirius commented, pretending to be highly offended by his friend.

'Aww, poor you...I'll fix you up with some spellotape and you'll be good as new.' Remus joked.

'Okay dokay,' Sirius grinned and bounced off to finish packing, causing the others to burst into a bout of laughter to which Sirius replied; 'honestly you lot are being so immature,' he said before adding: 'you're worse than first years.' using Remus' own words to tease him.

By the time they had gotten on the train Sirius had been extremely bored, he hadn't even had energy enough to taunt Snape before getting on the train; James had vividly pretending to take his temperature and claimed that he must have _"hit his head harder than we thought"._ Something Sirius had denied quite strongly.

They were now sitting in their compartment, their usual compartment which they had managed to grab before the berks that taken it last time.

'So, are you lot planning on coming to mine this summer?' James added in attempted casual voice. Sirius grinned as the other two boys nodded enthusiastically.

'Sirius?'

'Of course, why wouldn't I? They can't tell me what I can and can't do anyway.' Sirius said defiantly causing the rest of the group to look at him with worry.

'You know, I don't think you new idea of being a defiant brat is going to go down so well.' James said worriedly.

'Yeah well that's their problem isn't it?' he said confidently. He wasn't going to get pushed around anymore; he didn't let anyone at school push him around so he saw no reason why he should let anyone else do it either.

'Sirius, your parents-' Remus began

'Are arseholes?' Sirius asked, as if it were a genuine question.

'Sirius-'

'-Remus' Sirius joked, imitating the other's voice.

'I mean it Sirius, this isn't a laughing matter, your parents are dangerous people and I don't think you should do anything to upset them.' The worry in Remus' voice was clear and he could see the wheels going in the other boy's head, trying to think of a way to make him listen.

'I'll be fine Remy, they aren't quite as tough as they think they are.' Okay, so that was a lie. But Sirius was hardly going to say _"oh yeah, they'll probably hex me into oblivion if I piss them off" _was he?

'You can't fool us that easily Siri,' James said, with a roll of his eyes.

'Well we wouldn't have this problem if you lot had just let me hide under the bed like I suggested.' He joked, trying to gain a smile from at least one of the three boys.

Peter gave a giggle and James looked sorely tempted to laugh at his friend's statement but Remus was giving him a look that very clearly told him not to change subjects.

Trust me, I'll be fine...we'll be playing wizard chess and hula dancing before you know it.'

'Sirius, we never have and never will _hula danced'_ James said slowly, although trying not to laugh.

'You say that now but you don't know what you will and won't do at various point in your life. Maybe when you're really ancient your little grandkiddies will want to hula dance and you'll think it's hilarious because you said you would never do it, but you'll still do it anyway and I'll be at the other side of the mental ward laughing my ass off.'

'Sirius,'

'Yes Jamsie?'

'You're insane, you know that?'

'Obviously, or I wouldn't refer to myself as ending up in a mental ward, would I?' he told him as if he was asking a stupid question.

'Sirius, you worry me.' The black haired boy laughed back.

'What does that say for you though Jamsie? You're the one who has willingly chosen to befriend a madman.'

James had shut up and seemed to be pondering it in his head which just caused Sirius to laugh even harder at his friend.

The time on the train went so fast that Sirius had been even more depressed than usual when he stepped off of the train onto the crowded platform.

'Well I suppose this is it for a good few weeks.' James said somewhat sadly before pulling his best friend into a hug.

'I know, I finally get freedom from you.' Sirius joked, and got shoved by his friend for his mocking voice.

'Well I gotta go, but I'll see you soon, okay?' James said firmly.

'Sure thing James,' he grinned falsely.

'I...I gotta go too,' Pete said awkwardly. 'See you at James' house.' He called as he walked towards his mother.

'So this is it Remy, our goodbyes until James' house.' Sirius said lightly, trying not to feel his heart sink at the prospect of returning to No 12.

'Sirius...I...' but he seemed unsure what to say, so Sirius took it upon himself to pull the other boy into a tight hug.

'Its fine Remy, honest.' He said softly and felt Remus nod dumbly into his shoulder.

'Remember what I said before Sirius...If he's there...' Sirius swallowed uncomfortably, having completely forgotten about Greyback until that precise moment.

'Trust me, I'll be careful'

'Sirius'

'Okay, okay, if he's there then I'll go straight to James' house.' He said in a monotonous voice.

'I want you to mean it Sirius.' Remus said fiercely, holding his arms tightly and forcing him to look him in the eyes. Sirius had never seen Remus look so determined about anything before now and Sirius had to admit, he sort of liked that Remus was feeling protective of him.

'I promise Remy, I won't do anything stupid.'

'Okay,' Remus sighed, seeming to believe his friend, before leaning into him once more. Sirius automatically wrapped his arms around the smaller boy once more and despite the fact that he had previously been trying to avoid close contact with the other marauder he realised that he had already completely given in.

'I gotta go,' Sirius said sadly, feeling his brother's eyes on him and feeling incredibly uncomfortable all of a sudden.

'Okay,' Remus said back softly, but he made no attempt to move and Sirius didn't want to pull away.

'I'll miss you Remy,' he said lightly, and for a fleeting moment Sirius had wanted nothing more than to reach down and kiss the pale boy, to take his worry away.

'I'll miss you too Siri,' he said back sadly, giving him one last squeeze before pulling back, understanding that Sirius couldn't hang about any longer.

Sirius smiled at his friend before walking over to where Regulus and Kreacher stood with their piercing eyes.

The last thing Sirius saw before disappearing with the elf was the look of concern etched upon Remus scarred face and he felt his stomach drop, he couldn't stand the idea of being away from him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

**Miso Muchi**

**SubvertNormality**

**GiggleNo9**

**Tanja88**

**Siredna**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	35. Chapter 35 Of Banners and Microwaves

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Saying goodbye to your boyfriend?' Regulus sneered, as Sirius walked over to them.

'Fuck of Reg,' Sirius replied back in a bored tone.

'You should be careful you know,' Regulus mocked openly. 'He's a shady character, that Remus Lupin.' Sirius laughed loudly at the idea of Remus being classed as _shady_.

'Remus? It doesn't get much _less_ shady that him, Reg.'

'Well, Snape seems to be of a different opinion.' His brother replied snottily before they disapparated with Kreacher. But Sirius wasn't going to let it drop that easily.

'What do you mean Snape has a different opinion?' he shot angrily.

'He thinks you little friend's up to something, he's all suspicious...Merlin knows why, he's got this ridiculous idea that your strange little friend has some big secret he's hiding.'

'Yeah, well Snape doesn't know the first damn thing about Remus.' Sirius snarled at the boy. 'If anyone at Hogwarts is a shady character it's Snape!'

'Didn't realise it was touchy subject.' His brother laughed, whilst looking at him in a slightly suspicious manner.

'Like is said Reg, Fuck off.'

'Fine, fine, it's not like I care Sirius, I mean...most of our family would be classed as shady.' The boy replied in a careless tone.

'They're your family not mine.' Sirius muttered angrily before beginning to pull his trunk up the stairs, not bothering to stop it from thumping loudly on each and every step.

'Will you shut up!' the voice of Orion Black boomed loudly. But Sirius continued to bang it loudly as he ascended the stairs. 'Down here now!' the voice boomed once more.

He abandoned his trunk at the top of the stairs and made his way back down, but for once he found that he wasn't even remotely frightened. He was still too angry about Reg's comments that he hadn't even considered the noise he had been making.

Not bothering to knock on the already open door to his father's study he stood just inside the door, waiting for the telling-off that was likely to follow.

'Who the hell do you think you are coming into _my _home and making that damn racket?' his father furiously fumed.

He had wanted to shout back, to be the brat that he planned to be throughout the holidays but for some reason he simply couldn't. He could practically hear his friends' voices in his head telling him not to be rude, or provoke his father. With an inward sigh he decided to let his frustration go and apologised to his father in a tight, polite voice. Seeming to see that his son was close to revolting Orion made sure to make his opinion clear and Sirius had received a black eye to ensure that he understood his place in the household. He was then allowed to return to his room...not like it was something he was particularly looking forward to anyway, he thought bitterly.

Maybe he shouldn't start an outright war with his family, but he sure as hell intended to piss them off at least. The first thing he did upon reaching his room was to pull open his trunk and begin taking out his things. Grinning happily he pulled out his Gryffindor Quidditch Banner and used a permanent sticking charm to display it proudly on his wall, right over the top of bed. He then began putting up pictures of him and the other marauders up on his walls, on the cupboards, on anything he could think of really. He even enlarged one of his group pictures and displayed it proudly on his bedroom door beneath the nameplate that read _"Sirius", _he grinned proudly at it before returning to putting up more Gryffindor banners.

He even went as far as to make sure that he had left certain items darted about his room that he knew his family would be angered by, such as his Muggle Studies textbooks.

The only thing he had been careful of was to make sure that he had charmed one of his drawers shut so that it couldn't be opened by anyone but him and so that it was virtually indestructible and couldn't be broken by any angry family members. In this he kept a few items that he knew he couldn't risk letting get destroyed; the Marauders Map (why the others had been stupid enough to give it to him was beyond him), his magical creatures book from Remus, his Special Quill and his earlier and first photograph of the four boys together.

Looking around the room he grinned proudly, this could prove to be quite fun if he went about it the right way. But then he caught sight of himself in his mirror...the marking around his eye was now starting to swell up and he gingerly touched it...in all honesty it was a rather stupid thing to do. He knew it would hurt to touch and yet he had still done it, wincing out loud. He would have to be careful if he wanted to avoid any more physical punishments like this one, deciding there was nothing he could do to make it feel any less painful he changed out of his clothes and made his way to his bed, ready for an early night. As he lay there he smiled, seeing pictures of his friends scattered around the room was comforting and he found himself clinging to the idea that he just had to make it for a month or so and then he would be back with them once more.

Sirius was awoken one morning, towards the end of the holidays, to the never-ending screeching that could only come from one person-his mother. He had got ready and hurried down the stairs to answer her call and was extremely unhappy about the results. His mother had given him a small bag of money and instructed him that he was to go to Diagon Alley for the day-taking Regulus with him-and buy his school supplies. He had then agreed politely before rushing off to use the fireplace, peering suspiciously behind his shoulder every few minutes to make sure he wasn't being seen and he had quickly got in touch with James; telling him that he would be in Diagon Ally the whole day. James had known where this was going straight away and had agreed to meet him in Diagon Alley.

He decided fairly quickly that there was no way he could put up with his annoying brother for the day and had given him half the money and left him to do whatever it was he wanted, on second thoughts he wasn't sure he wanted to know what Regulus would get up to on his own. But it had been a good idea anyway, allowing him to spend time with James without being snitched on to his parents.

As soon as he set eyes on his bespectacled friend he couldn't contain the grin that threatened to spill over. He ran straight to his friend and the two boys hugged happily, both grinning from ear to ear.

'So they let you out the mad house?' James had laughed as they had met in the Leaky Cauldron.

'Yeah, but only cus they didn't want to get the school stuff.' Sirius replied.

'So where are we going then?' James asked, head turning from side to side to look at his options.

'Well I was thinking we could get all the stuff that we need for school and then after that...whatever's left can go sweets, Gambol and Japes products and...Whatever else we can think of.' Sirius decided happily.

'I say school equipment last otherwise we'll have to carry everything else around all day.' James grinned.

Sirius supposed that made the most sense and they had headed straight for Gringotts Wizarding Bank to get James' money. They hadn't even gotten outside before James had thought up a fantastic new idea for how to spend the bulk of their day. They had exchanged their normal money into muggle money and had decided to explore muggle London for the day.

Sirius had to admit, he found muggle London fascinating. They had trailed through the muggle shops without either of the two boys knowing what most of the objects were but they still enjoyed looking at them. However, he knew that they were standing out. That they were easily distinguishable as not being _normal – _a small girl had loudly asked her mother "_why are those boys playing with a lamp?" _when she had seen them switching it on and off in fascination.

The one problem that he continually had throughout the day was that neither him nor James actually knew how much their muggle money was worth and had needed the people behind the paying counters to help them with their money. Sirius had had this problem three times that day; once when he had purchased a rather large poster of a scarlet coloured motorbike, once when he had paid for a strange mixture of muggles sweets and once when he had used the money to buy him and James lunch.

They had got back to Diagon Alley with hardly any time to spare. The two boys had dashed around the shops in a maddening frenzy to buy new robes, textbooks and other basic equipment before rushing back to the Leaky Cauldron where Sirius had gotten a brief chance to see Mr and Mrs Potter. They had been extremely happy to see him looking well, and without any marks or bruises, and Mrs Potter had held the boy in an even longer hug than she had in previous encounters seeming sad that she hadn't yet had his company at the Potter's household.

'The house is quite quiet without you, you know.' Mr Potter had informed him. 'Are you going to be coming over soon? Remus and Peter are both coming over for the last week of the holidays.'

'Yeah it should be great.' Sirius had grinned at the ageing man. Mr Potter had always been quite tall in Sirius' opinion but he now found that he may not be as tall as Sirius had always thought. Sirius himself wasn't much smaller than him now, something which Sirius thought to be very strange in deed.

'Sirius,' a voice said in an emotionless tone from beside him. He turned to see his brother standing slightly behind him looking impatient.

'I...uh...I gotta go but I'll see you soon, okay?' Sirius told them firmly.

'Sure thing Siri, I hope you've been practicing you-know-what,' James said quietly as the two boys hugged goodbye.

'It's not like I've got much else to do at my place have I?' Sirius laughed.

'Yeah, well I can't wait to demonstrate for you.' James smirked triumphantly.

'No way! You managed it?' Sirius asked loudly causing the Potter's to look suspiciously at them.

'Yeah, it's so cool Sirius! You'll love it; I can't wait to show you.' James was practically bobbing up and down in excitement.

'Yeah, well I'm just gonna have to practice harder then.' Sirius grinned. 'There's no way I'm letting you do it without me!'

'I don't think it would be wise for any of us to do it alone.' James said in a serious tone before remembering his parents and laughing loudly in an extremely fake manner before adding in; 'It's going to be our best prank yet!' just to throw his parents off track.

'Sirius,' the voice said again, although in a slightly harsher voice.

'Okay!' he snapped angrily before giving the Potters a sad smile and turning towards his brother.

Together they walked towards the fireplace, and Sirius-looking towards the Potters-had never felt so sad to be going home.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

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**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

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**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

**Miso Muchi**

**SubvertNormality**

**GiggleNo9**

**Tanja88**

**Siredna**

**Black_Wind**

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**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	36. Chapter 36 Dining With a Werewolf

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius was not happy. In fact he was pretty certain that he was nearly soulless by last week of the holidays. He had been told in no uncertain terms that he was not going to stay at the Potter's for the remainder of the summer and that if he did choose to disobey them and leave then they would simply follow him and drag him home themselves.

He had ended up having to write to James explaining that he wasn't going to be able to join his fellow marauders for their last week of the holidays. So needless to say, Sirius had spent the rest of his summer in an incredibly foul mood.

He had spent nearly the entire holiday in his room-apart from mealtimes-learning to transform into his animagus form and he had been quite surprised with the results. He had slowly been getter better and better at his transformations and then one day, completely out of the blue everything seemed suddenly to click. He had been fully expecting it to go wrong in some way or another but had shocked himself by transforming-with ease-into a huge black dog.

There was something oddly relaxing about being in his animagus form. Sure, he was still able to think as clearly as usual but everything seemed far less important. It was as if he was aware of all his normal thinking but instead of his thoughts being complicated everything seemed simple. He noticed that in dog form he didn't tend to think much before doing things, going mostly by instinct than thought. What did take him a while to get used to was being in an entirely new body. Everything from walking to having a tail to wag was incredibly strange to him.

He wondered what James' form would take...and Peter's too. He found himself rather intrigued as to what factors effected your form. Surely there must be a reason as to why each person had a different form – he had been fascinated from the start with it but had never been able to find information on it.

Sirius found that he preferred to sit about in his dog form when he had nothing to do. He seemed to see things clearer when in dog form and quite liked the simplicity of his thoughts as a dog. The one thing that he wasn't keen on was that he constantly had to resist random dog-like urges, such as chewing on something in boredom or becoming fascinated with his own tail.

But the days went slowly by and by the time it reached his last night at Number 12 he felt he couldn't have managed any longer in that depressing house.

What had certainly come as a surprise was when-on the very last night-he had came downstairs for his last meal without any idea whatsoever as to whom he was about to see. He had just been away to enter the room when his father had stopped him, muttering a quiet warning about being well-mannered, well-behaved and most importantly quiet. He wasn't to speak unless spoken to in other words.

He had known that there would be guests; there always were these days. Sirius had came to the conclusion that his parents were trying to place themselves in other people's opinions as being part of the pure-blood muggle haters side of the wizarding community. Over the last few months people had been becoming more and more frightened by the ever rising power of the dark lord. He assumed that his parents were kissing up to darker people in an attempt to make Regulus a candidate for becoming a death-eater.

What he hadn't expected was that tonight he would see a guest that he hadn't seen since the previous summer, the guest that he least wanted to set eyes on – Fenrir Greyback. He had felt his own breath catch in his throat, his heart rate speed up uncontrollably and he felt a nearly blinding anger.

'Sit down Sirius,' his father said in a warning tone. Sirius sank into his seat, his mind frozen in an almost numb state of mind. It was like he was having an out of body experience – he could see what was going on but he couldn't seem to actually think, as if he was waiting for his own reaction.

They began their meal but Sirius hadn't even reached for the cutlery, he was merely staring towards Greyback, unable to think of anything but Remus' pale, tear-stained face as he had fallen asleep in his arms after their talk about Greyback. How Remus had been physically shaken, physically sick at the mention of this disgustingly sickening beast.

'So Sirius,' Greyback had said in a raspy voice, staring back at him intently in a curious fashion. 'What year are you going into then?'

It was clear that he didn't actually care at all. He was trying to see if Sirius was scared of him, he was testing him. It then occurred to him that after smelling Remus on him the year before Greyback was probably curious as to whether Sirius knew about Remus' problem. Greyback was probably getting off on the fact that he and Sirius were-in a strange way-connected by Remus, although Greyback probably assumed that Sirius was unaware of this.

He wanted nothing more than to throw himself straight across the table at that...that monster. But he knew perfectly well that if Remus was anything to go by then there was no point whatsoever in doing so, Greyback would be a great many times stronger than him. He could pull out his wand right there and then if he wanted to, the ministry was that fearful of dark witches and wizards at the moment that they probably wouldn't blink an eye at the unforgivables being used in the Black family's house.

But somewhere in his mind he knew that he was being foolish. Attempting to get revenge on this guy was pointless, he would only get himself hurt and in doing so he would only cause Remus more hurt than he had already suffered, and Merlin knows that boy had already suffered enough to last all four marauders a life time.

'May I be excused?' he asked in a determinedly calm voice.

'Don't be so bloody rude, answer the man's question.' Sirius would have snorted at the ridiculousness of it, if it hadn't been for the fact that it would only put him in danger. Greyback was no man; he wasn't anywhere close in Sirius' opinion. He was nothing more than a sick freak.

'I'm going into fifth year; I assumed you already knew that.' Sirius replied in a manner that let Greyback know that he wasn't being as polite as his tone suggested. But the Werewolf didn't seem bothered in the slightest. In fact he looked somewhat...amused. As if beginning to question whether Sirius did know their connection or not. 'May I be excused now?' he asked again in a slightly less polite manner than before.

'Leave if you wish, I have no want for your company.' His father said in a low, cruel tone. It was clear that his father was trying to distinguish a rift between them for their guests to see, as if to stop them judging him by Sirius' manners.

'Sirius,' his mother's voice added in cold, smooth manner.

'Yes,' he replied shortly.

'I don't expect to hear or see you after you leave this room. As far I am concerned, you are non-existent in my eyes until next summer.' Sirius took this to mean that she didn't want to set eyes on him until his return the next year.

Sirius didn't reply but merely nodded in return before hurrying out of the room and rushing up the stairs at top speed. This meant that his parents didn't plan on seeing him, most likely expecting him to be gone, before they roamed the house the next day.

He had began packing earlier on in the day and there were very few things that he hadn't taken packed - except his motorbike poster and Gryffindor banners (which were easily replaced) - the only things currently unpacked that he was taking with him were the things in his drawer which he figured would be safer staying there for night than they would be in his trunk.

With an uneasy feeling he climbed into bed, knowing that technically he had promised Remus that he would leave his house as soon Greyback made an appearance, and yet he hadn't done so. But he would have felt rather ridiculous to up and leave now, and knew that his friends would be incredibly worried if he had made an appearance on the last day of the holidays. There wasn't much point in leaving anyway; one night wasn't going to hurt him. He could bear one night, it wasn't a big deal. He was a Gryffindor for Merlin's sake, not some frightened little Hufflepuff.

But he doubted he would get much sleep now, not knowing that the reason for Remus' lycanthropy was currently sitting downstairs with his _family_-however loose the term was-and eating with the others as if he wasn't some raving lunatic, which he _clearly _was.

Deciding he didn't want the complications of such thoughts he transformed into his dog form, feeling only slightly better but it was still something. But he felt an instant disgust, he could _smell _Greyback from where he was currently lying. That was the one downside of being a dog in animagus form – at times like this he could smell things so much clearer than he would in human form and it was sickening. It had to be Greyback he smelt; no one else he had encountered so far had such a strong smell and everyone else had been in the house over the last few weeks at somepoint.

He had been wrong, this wasn't better at all. The smell was so disgusting that Sirius knew he literally wouldn't be able to stomach it much longer. He immediately chose to return into his human state, sighing loudly in irritation.

Turning on his side he curled up into a ball and thought of his friends. Right now they were probably being given hot chocolate and biscuits by James' large fire. Or they would be in James' room, curled up on the bed together; laughing, joking, probably not even bothered by their current lack of Sirius.

That was unfair, he thought sadly. They didn't deserve his cruel assumptions, James was probably extremely irritated by the fact that Sirius had been warned not to run off to his house. That and if Sirius knew Mr Potter, who he figured he knew fairly well by this point, then chances were he was half-tempted to come storming up here demanding to see Sirius for himself.

James was like his dad in that sense; he needed to be told not to do stupid things. Needed to have someone say no, or tell him that something was a bad idea. Sirius supposed people probably thought much the same about him. But he wasn't like that at all, he thought things through to an extreme amount, if he did something stupid it was simply because he didn't care about the consequences, instead of just not thinking about them.

He continued to toss and turn for hours after that, he had even began to see a glimpse of sunlight come into his room before finally succumbing to his much needed sleep.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

**Miso Muchi**

**SubvertNormality**

**GiggleNo9**

**Tanja88**

**Siredna**

**Black_Wind**

**Messr_lvr**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	37. Chapter 37 Awkward Returns

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Oh Shit!' Sirius cursed loudly, knocking over his trunk as he rushed towards the end of the bed where he had placed his clothes the night before.

He took another look at his watch, he was going to be late if he didn't move quickly, if Kreacher left without him then he would make sure the house elf joined his family in having his head on a-

'Master Black, we must leave now Sir,' Kreacher's voice croaked from the doorway where he was standing.

Quickly pulling his wand out he opened the drawer pulling out the last of his things and carefully putting them into his trunk before pulling his clothes on quickly and rushing down the stairs, not caring to remain quiet.

'What is your problem?' his brother said in a ridiculously dissatisfied voice when Sirius reached the bottom of the stairs.

'My problem? You're the one who seems to have a problem Reg.' He told his brother shortly.

'I suppose you're rushing off to save your boyfriend from the curiosity of Severus then,' his brother commented, clearly aiming to get a reaction from his elder brother.

'Fuck off Reg, I'm not in the mood for you thinking you're all clever...in actual fact Reg, you're a git.' He laughed and his laughter only increased at the offended look on his brother's face.

Regulus didn't even get a chance to retort before they arrived suddenly at Platform 9 and ¾. Giving his brother a teasing wave he turned and sped off towards the train looking around for his friends, eyes darting from side to side as he tried to locate them. It was then that he realised, with a surprise that he no longer had to strain to see over the mass of students...he must have grown after all, he thought to himself happily.

'Sirius,' James voice boomed happily in a deeper voice than he had ever had before and Sirius grinned upon seeing his messy haired friend who-like Sirius-had grown a fair amount over the summer. He didn't even get much closer to the group before being embraced by his best friend.

'Missed you Jamsie,' Sirius teased lightly.

'Missed you too Siri,' James laughed in return, before allowing Sirius past.

'Hi Sirius,' Pete squeaked excitedly. 'It was so weird this summer without you,' Deciding to that it was a shame that Pete never received much of his attention he threw an arm around the boy's shoulder, and only felt worse for not being as attentive to him normally when Pete's face lit up happily.

Turning last of all to Remus he smiled wildly and pulled the boy into a tight hug, making sure to hug him extra long to show that he really was fine and to stop his friend from fretting, which he was certain he was. Sirius figured that Remus was probably quite worried by the fact that he hadn't been able to come to James' house.

Pulling away he noticed the look of relief on the boy's face slowly turn into an excited smile and Sirius couldn't help but grin back.

'What's got you in such a good mood Remy?' Remus smiled happily and put his hand in his pocket, pulling out a shiny new badge.

'I got Prefect,' Sirius had never seen Remus look so proud of himself before and he pulled the boy into yet another hug, jumping up and down enthusiastically to show his happiness for his fellow marauder. Remus seemed thrilled even further by Sirius' enthusiasm and was now looking even prouder than before.

'That great Remy,' he smiled happily. If anybody deserved to be Prefect it was Remus, it gave him a chance to finally feel like a normal student and it was probably the closest thing to normality that Remus was ever likely to get. Sirius wasn't stupid; he knew that as fine as Remus was now things would change after Hogwarts. After all Werewolves were practically unemployable, not because they weren't capable – Remus was far from it - but because the world was full of prejudiced idiots.

'So,' James cut in looking slightly confused as his eyes moved between the two boys. 'How was your summer?' he asked pointedly.

'Rubbish, what did you expect it to be?' Sirius asked feeling confused by his friend's idiotic question.

'I meant did you manage to do anything interesting?' James said rolling his eyes and Sirius realised suddenly what his friend was meaning.

'I managed something fairly interesting, I'll have to tell you about it later' Sirius grinned wildly.

'Sounds cool,' James grinned in return and the rest of the group only looked on in confusion.

'I hope you were treated well Sirius,' James mother said with a worried voice, clearly showing disapproval towards Sirius' parents.

'It wasn't so bad, I spent most of my time in my room,' he told them truthfully.

'Any dodgy visitors?' James asked unexpectedly.

'Of course there were, most everyone my family talks to are dodgy.' He replied avoiding what he knew James meant.

'I meant anyone in particular.' He said pointedly and Sirius found Remus was now staring at him intently, awaiting his answer.

'Drop it James,' he said quietly, whilst avoiding Remus' eyes.

'No, Sirius I-'

'For now James,' Sirius pleaded and James gave a small nod in return. James' mother was now staring at them, clearly very worried about their secretive nature.

'Look we've gotta go Mum,' James told her softly before hugging his mother tightly. She seemed like she wanted to force the boys into explaining who this dodgy character was but the boys all bid her farewell at top speed and sped off in the direction of the train.

As soon as they reached their usual compartment the four boys rushed in, James closing the door behind them all and Sirius throwing himself down onto the seats looking out the window quickly in order to avoid the conversation that he knew was coming.

'Why didn't you want to answer Sirius?' Remus' asked straight away before James even got the chance and Sirius felt guilt wash over him.

'Look I didn't mean to break my promise Remy' he said quickly.

'But you broke it?' Remus asked, his voice slightly higher than usual and with a hint towards hurt.

'Look he was only there the last night; I didn't even see him until I went downstairs to eat, I was just told we were having guests I didn't realise-'

'-but you didn't leave, you should have left as soon as you could,'

'Remus, you can't seriously expect me to give that freak the pleasure of me running off as soon as he appears.' Sirius shot suddenly feeling defensive.

'It's not about him Sirius, it's about you being safe, I couldn't care less if I tried about whether he enjoys it or not.'

'Well I do! I'm not going to go running off to James' house in hiding, I'm a damn Gryffindor and I'm not going to stop acting like one for that son of a bitch!'

'Sirius!' James' voice cut in harshly, clearly thinking his friend was getting too worked up. 'Just calm down,'

'Why the hell should I?' Sirius snapped angrily. 'I haven't done anything wrong,'

'You promised Sirius,' Remus said weakly, looking almost defeated. 'I thought your word meant more than that, more than just...words.' The compartment when horribly silent and he couldn't help feeling instantly hurt by Remus' words.

'I don't make promises without intending to keep them,' Sirius said sharply, losing his patience.

'Maybe you should have tried harder,' Remus shot back.

'When the hell did you start overreacting so much?' Sirius snapped angrily.

'Overreacting? I told you _everything _about that...that...monster, you know how much I was worrying about you Sirius, how much I hated him being anywhere near you, and you say I'm overreacting!' Remus was now sounding genuinely hurt and every bone in his body told him to apologise straight away and pull the other boy into a hug but for some reason he found himself unable to do it.

'I'm not a pet Remus, you can't just expect me do what you say and drag me away from danger by a fucking lead.' Sirius knew this was a very weak argument but he had said it with the intent of shutting Remus up.

'Don't you dare pull that one on me Sirius; you can't accuse me of trying to control you! You certainly can't accuse _me _of being overprotective. If anything you're the one who overreacts and gets protective and I never complain when you do!' Remus retorted, eyes filling up and glistening with hurt. But before Sirius even got the chance to reply Remus turned and headed for the compartment door.

'Remus' James said sadly, but Remus didn't say a word and walked out.

'Now look what you've done Siri! He was worried about you, and you threw it in his face like he was offending you.'

'Yeah, well maybe he was.' Sirius said defiantly. 'I don't need protecting!'

'I know you like being the one that looks out for everybody Siri but you can't seriously expect him to just sit by and not say anything when it involves...you know...Greyback,' James said, desperately trying to make his friend see sense.

The rest of the journey had been incredibly awkward; James had attempted to look for Remus on the train but had came to the conclusion that he had went to sit with the other prefects like he should have done when he boarded the train. Since then the three boys had spent most of it in silence until James had decided he wanted to see Sirius' transformation.

'Come on Siri, I'll charm the door shut so no one will come in and I'll close the curtains too!' his messy haired friend complained loudly.

'Fine, fine.' Sirius replied, although mostly just to shut him up. He didn't really fell like it at the moment. He watched closely as his friend did all the spells he had promised before turning into his animagus form and earning a triumphant shout of excitement form his friend.

'Wow Sirius, this is...it's...wow' Pete said in awe.

'Trust you to be a dog Sirius,' James laughed loudly. 'Man's best friend and all.' Sirius would have gave a bark in return if it wasn't for the fact that it would get him caught so he chose to bounce towards James, licking his face happily.

'Ugh, Siri...that's disgusting and I can't even wash it off properly here!' Sirius transformed quickly into human form once more, laughing wildly at his friend's look of revulsion.

'Sorry James, instincts and all.' It was only partially true but Sirius felt that he could get away with friendly doggish acts whilst transformed.

'It's still gross mate,' James laughed, wiping the dog's saliva off his face.

'Go on James, show me yours.' James grinned in return and began transforming instantly; Sirius couldn't explain his awe at seeing his best friend change before his eyes into a large stag and wondered briefly how his friend managed to stay balanced with such large prongs on his head.

'That is so cool!' Sirius grinned wildly.

'Yeah!' Pete added enthusiastically. 'You guys need to help me transform...it's been going better recently...I just can't seem to get the tail right...and it puts me off balance.'

'Sure thing Pete,' James said with a smile, now back in human form once more.

'Wait til we show Remy it'll be so cool!' Sirius said enthusiastically before remembering his argument with the boy. All three boys fell into an awkward silence and they continued the rest of the journey with hardly any speaking, settling into the silence sadly.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**__****Also I want to say thanks again to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really appreciated it and I just want to say it's slightly irritating that so many people are willing to put my story on alert but can't spare two minutes to leave a review...how am I supposed to know what people like if they don't review...even if its short and sweet its nice to get something back for puting so much time into writing this story :)**

**_***********_**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to ****me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

**Miso Muchi**

**SubvertNormality**

**GiggleNo9**

**Tanja88**

**Siredna**

**Black_Wind**

**Messr_lvr**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	38. Chapter 38 Apologies

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Remy!' James shouted happily as he threw himself down into a seat beside Remus and tossed an arm over the boy's shoulders, the other two marauders followed suit, sitting opposite the other two boys in silence.

'Hello James,' Remus replied weakly, looking uncomfortable.

'Where did you go, Remy?' James asked him with a slightly hurt expression.

'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have disappeared like that,' Remus replied guiltily.

'It's okay, it's not important but where did you go though? I looked for you on the train but I couldn't exactly go into _every _single compartment.' James said, hoping that Remus would understand.

'I uh – I sat with Lily,' Remus said unsurely, as if wondering whether James would be annoyed with him or not.

'So you sat with Snape?' Sirius cut in, he couldn't hope to understand why anyone could possible find Snape's company an attractive idea.

'I sat with Lily,' Remus repeated once more before adding; 'In the Prefect's carriage, I have nothing to say to _that _boy.' Remus replied calmly. Sirius gave a nod to show he agreed with Remus' statement but Remus turned his head to avoid looking at him, leaving Sirius feeling incredibly worse than before.

The group descended into silence once more before Lily arrived and took the seat on the other side of Remus, giving him a warm smile. Remus gave her a small smile in return and Sirius felt instantly annoyed, Remus would give _her _a smile yet he wouldn't make eye contact with him.

'Ah, Lily-flower! How was your summer?' James asked straight away, craving the girl's attention.

'Okay...I suppose' she replied looking somewhere between confusion and suspicion at the normality of his question. 'Yours?' she asked back, although Sirius knew she was only doing it to be polite. Lily Evans was certainly _not _James' biggest fan due to the fact that he and Sirius constantly wound up her best friend _Snape._

'Beautiful Lily, stunningly beautiful in fact-although not as beautiful as you of course,' He told her earnestly causing her to blush slightly but roll her eyes at his attempt at flirting with her. Sirius and Peter both snorted loudly-although Pete tried to disguise his as a cough- and Remus was looking highly amused by James' lame attempt, managing to refrain from laughing at him, eyes twinkling with laughter.

'The feast went by painfully slowly but Sirius had at least got the chance to be amused whilst watching Snape glare at James continuously throughout the sorting ceremony as well as the meal. Snape's gaze was full of loathing each time he saw James lean over and whisper something to Lily or every time he said something that made her roll her eyes and Sirius couldn't help thinking that boy must have some serious problem, he was either infatuated with Lily or his hatred for James was getting a bit over the top. Sirius then went back to watching James' never-ending attempts at wooing Lily Evans. But it didn't keep him amused for long; Remus was currently pretending to be interested in Lily's long description of some island she had visited during the summer with her parents and sister. But Sirius could see Remus slowly becoming more and more withdrawn throughout the evening and the guilt Sirius felt was nearly unbearable. He had been a complete arse to Remus, and he felt terrible for overreacting.

At the end of the meal Remus had nervously instructed the first years along with the Lily Evans, who was the other Gryffindor Prefect. Sirius had to admit, despite his nervousness Remus was actually coping quite well with his new job as a Prefect. Although...Sirius had to admit he _had _been sorely tempted to smack one of the third years straight across the face for giving Remus cheek after being told to return to the tower instead of wandering around after hours.

He supposed that considering Remus was a marauder people were unlikely to take him seriously when it came to rule-breaking, but they didn't know Remus like Sirius did. Remus might be shy, quiet and a bit nervous at times but he was not someone to mess with. That much Sirius could quite easily say.

By the time Remus had arrived in their dorm James and Peter were already in bed and sleeping – due to the fact that Sirius had asked them to give him and Remus some time to talk alone-and Sirius was sitting on the edge of Remus' bed when the other boy arrived, wearing his best _"I'm sorry" _look and hoping for the best.

_'_Sirius, why are you on my bed and where are the others?' Remus asked in a tired voice, showing he didn't want to argue with him.

'I was waiting for you and...I asked the other's to give us some time alone...look, I'm sorry Remy. I was a complete git.'

'Yes, yes you were,' Remus replied slowly, apparently unconvinced that the ultra-stubborn Sirius Black had backed down so quickly-especially considering how defensive he had been earlier or-and was apologising without being forced.

'I mean it Remy,' he whispered genuinely. 'I...I didn't mean to get snappy, I was more angry with myself than with you.' He added, fingering the covers unsurely to give him something to do other than look at Remus.

Remus moved forward towards the bed slowly and climbed on to sit beside Sirius, drawing the curtains around the bed silently before placing a charm on the bed to stop them from being overheard by their dorm mates.

'Why?' Remus asked patiently and Sirius couldn't help but wonder how Remus refrained from hitting him sometime. Sirius felt instantly better at the boy's actions, Remus had accepted him into his bed, that _had _to be a good sign.

'I...I was just so angry Remus...I hated feeling so useless he was just sitting there across the table from me smirking...as if he knew.' Sirius said coldly.

'What could he possibly know Sirius?' Remus replied looking exasperated.

'He knows we're friends Remus, I swear, close friends. This is going to sound insane but...that night when I first saw him last year...he...he smelt you, on me.

'How?' Remus asked unsurely, Sirius could see that he was desperately trying to understand how that was possible.

'That day...well we all hugged right before I left the platform and...I...I could still smell you guys on my clothes right.' He was blushing now, and Sirius Black _never _blushed.

'Right,' Remus said encouragingly and Sirius was grateful that Remus wasn't putting him on the spot or making things awkward.

'I mean, if I could smell it then he must have been able to, you said yourself that have you have a strong sense of smell because of...anyway he even smelled the room when I walked in. Of course at the time I thought he was just a bit of a weirdo really...'

'He...he recognised my scent...on you?' Remus' voice whimpered and Sirius could practically feel the guilt radiating off of him.

'Remus-'

'Oh Merlin!' Remus gasped, looking horrified.

'Don't you dare Remus! Don't you dare feel guilty about this!' Sirius said grabbing the boy's arms firmly and making him look at him.

'Sirius-'

'No Remus, you have nothing to feel guilty about, I'm the one that's sorry...I...I hate that I can't protect you Remus, not properly at least.' He told him, his voice was barely above a whisper now, terrified that his voice would betray him if he attempted to speak normally. He let go of Remus' arm feeling horrible for grabbing him so tightly.

'I don't expect you to Siri-'

'-But I want to! I'd do anything for you Remus, anything...and I hate that I can't even get revenge on that sick monster for you...I-'

But Sirius had been abruptly cut off all of a sudden as Remus quite firmly pressed his lips against Sirius' own. Sirius barely even had time to register what was going on before Remus pulled away and Sirius found he was unable to do or say anything; he just sat there in complete and utter shock.

Remus' eyes were slowly filling with more and more worry as he waited for some sort of reaction from Sirius. It wasn't until Remus had made a sudden move to get up and leave that Sirius sobered up and went with his first instinct. He reached out, pulling Remus towards him shakily and pulled the boy hesitatingly into their second kiss.

This one was far less rushed than the last one and Sirius found himself extremely self-conscious and aware of every slight movement between them.

For once Sirius had lost his usually confident manner, his right hand lifting to cup his friend's pale cheek softly. He was painfully aware that it was Remus and not some random girl that he was currently kissing in this slow, drawn out manner and it was at the precise moment that he realised that this was far more than some silly crush, like he had originally thought the previous year. This was Remus, his best friend Remus. Remus who was _always_ there when Sirius most needed his comfort. Remus that did ridiculously small and kind acts for him on a daily basis. Remus that always, _always _made him feel a hundred times better when he was feeling down...and he never wanted to this to stop.

When they finally pulled apart Sirius was shocked to see his friend's eyes tear up unexpectedly and his bottom lip quiver slightly.

'Remus-' he began in a hesitant voice trying to stop Remus before he freaked out completely.

'I can't believe this,' Remus whispered suddenly looking panic-stricken. 'I...I'm not...not like _that._'

'Could have fooled me.' Sirius sniped, feeling hurt by the boy's words, but trying to remind himself to be patient. Remus just needed time to think things through and things would be fine...hopefully.

'I'm...I'm not! I'm a Werewolf Sirius. Somehow I don't think the words _big ferocious Werewolf _and _gay _go all that well.'

'You think being a pureblood, a...a member of the Black family goes well with the word _gay_?' Sirius asked in return, trying to make Remus see how ridiculous it all was.

'It...It's different Sirius...It's-'

'No it's not Remus...not really. Forget the word _Werewolf _forget the name _Black_, forget the word _Gay_!' Sirius said clearly and firmly. 'All I want you to think about is you and me...and nothing else.' Sirius whispered, moving closer-if possible-to his nervous friend.

Remus immediately threw himself forward into Sirius' arms, grasping tightly onto the other boy and curling up in his arms.

'Why does everything in my life have to be so complicated?' Remus chuckled into Sirius' shoulder.

'I wonder why mine's is too sometimes,' Sirius joked softly. His life wasn't quite as bad as Remus' had been but it still the idea was the same regardless.

'Sirius,' Remus' voice whispered hesitantly. Sirius gave a small murmur to show he was listening and Remus let out a shaky breath before continuing; 'Promise me this won't change things Sirius, don't do this if you don't mean it...I don't think I could handle having you and then losing you.'

'What's gonna drive me away Remy? He asked firmly, wanting to understand Remus' worries and ready to prove himself.

'Boredom, those girls...fear of others finding out.'

'I'm not going to get bored with you Remy...you're one of my best friends! I've spent most of my time since I came to Hogwarts with you and I've never once been bored with you. I only ever went with those stupid girls in the first place to try and stop thinking about you and I couldn't care less what people think about me, which I thought you knew by now.' He replied stubbornly.

'What about James? Peter?' Remus asked eyes wide and filled with worry.

'I dunno, I'll figure it out when it comes to it Remus. Like I said all I want you to think about is you and me...anything else is just an obstacle we'll need to overcome, together' he told the scarred boy firmly. 'And you know how much I enjoy a good challenge' he added jokingly to try and lessen the tension.

Somehow, throughout their talk the two boys had ended up lying down on Remus' bed, curled up together atop Remus' covers. Sirius smiled softly at the boy in his arms and sat up, for a second he could see the fear in Remus' eyes as if he had thought Sirius was away to up and leave right there and then.

'Relax Remy, I'm just getting under the covers.' He laughed before suddenly realising what that might sound like he was suggesting; 'I didn't mean...I just meant-unless...you don't-'

'- Like _I_ said Sirius, I don't want things to change between us any more than they have to. You wouldn't have thought twice about it any other time.'

Sirius smiled at the scarred boy before and pulled the covers back before climbing beneath them-still in his uniform-and shifting slightly to make sure there was enough room for Remus as well. Remus got beneath the covers and although-at first-both boys had felt slightly unsure what to do next, Remus made the first move and shifted closer to Sirius, curling up beside him, giving Sirius the boost in confidence that he needed to wrap his arms around his scarred friend in a caring manner.

'Night Remus' Sirius whispered softly into the pale boy's hair.

'Goodnight Sirius,' he whispered back into the Sirius' own chest.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_**So what did you think??? I want to scream the word "finally"...it was very hard to pace myself and not get them together sooner haha!**_

_**Also I want to say thanks again to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really appreciated it and I just want to say it's slightly irritating that so many people are willing to put my story on alert but can't spare two minutes to leave a review...how am I supposed to know what people like if they don't review...even if its short and sweet its nice to get something back for puting so much time into writing this story :)**_

*****************

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers:**

**Chili loves you**

**-mybloodsingstohim-**

**MilyMB**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Melora**

**Mystical Beings**

**'****Dance it'**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**SweetoothMegs**

**AliceLee22**

**Greyeyed1**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Love-of-all-Anime**

**apotart**

**Darkestfury**

**Rue Her Death**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**Snowychann**

**purple-psychopath**

**Miso Muchi**

**SubvertNormality**

**GiggleNo9**

**Tanja88**

**Siredna**

**Black_Wind**

**Messr_lvr**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	39. Chapter 39 The Day After the Apology

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

It had been rather surprising to wake up the next morning and find that at some point during the night he had subconsciously shifted from his original position into one where he was now further down the bed and curled into Remus' side, using the boy's stomach as a pillow.

Somewhere in his mind he knew that he should move, if any of the other two boys decided to pull back the curtains then it would be extremely awkward to explain his current position. Sure, the marauders often shared beds with each other-although mostly out of laziness-but they never ended up in this kind of position and it wasn't usually a two person deal.

'I see you've chosen to wake up now,' Remus chuckled lightly, causing Sirius head to rise slightly along with the boy's stomach.

'I'm surprised you awoke before I did.' Sirius replied softly, he felt incredibly relaxed like this. This was surprising considering how strange he had felt the night before.

'I think I woke up at this time automatically because I expected to be woken by you.' The scarred boy commented with a slight teasing tone.

'Why didn't you wake me up?' he asked feeling quite confused by his friend's actions.

'I figured you probably didn't get much sleep the night before. I doubt it would have been easy to after all.'

'Yeah...' Sirius replied, feeling slightly tense and hoping it wouldn't start up their argument before.

'Relax Sirius; I'm not looking for an argument.' Remus replied softly and Sirius gave a small nod to show he understood.

'I should probably move...' Sirius commented sadly.

'James and Pete have already left for breakfast.' Remus told him.

'Why?' Sirius demanded, now sitting up to look at Remus.

'Like I said Sirius, you slept in.'

'But...I don't get why they wouldn't have woke us up.' He replied feeling slightly hurt that his friends had already left, and now wondering if they had managed to open the curtains around Remus' bed.

'Because, they don't know for sure that we've made,' Remus told him simply. 'They probably didn't want to wake you in case things hadn't gone well.' Sirius couldn't help but laugh at this idea; it was the complete opposite as far as Sirius was concerned. Things had gone _very _well in his opinion.

'All the same we should get up anyway,' Sirius said feeling slightly saddened as he moved and lost contact with the pale boy.

'Okay, then we can go get something to eat.' Remus agreed with a smile. Sirius smiled in return and then headed for his trunk, beginning to rummage through it for a clean uniform. He just began pulling it out when he noticed that Remus watching him with a rather amused look on his face.

'What are you doing?' his scarred friend asked, eyes lighting up with laughter.

'Getting a uniform.' Sirius replied feeling utterly bewildered by his friend. After all, he was hardly going to wear the same one he had slept in, that was far more a James-like thing to do.

'Sirius, what day was the first of September this year?' Remus smiled as if waiting for Sirius to click on to something.

'Friday,' Sirius replied slowly, not really understanding the point.

'Which means today is?' Remus continued for him, clearly trying not to laugh.

'Saturday. Oh, Saturday!' Sirius laughed at himself, realising that he didn't even have classes to attend. He felt rather silly but Remus was now laughing a real belly laugh and Sirius immediately felt that his temporary embarrassment was worth it just for that.

'Okay, okay...I'm stupid, now do you want to know something that's actually interesting?' Sirius remarked with a smirk. Remus stopped his laughter quickly and nodded to show he was listening but Sirius had no intentions of saying anything of importance he merely instructed Remus to close his eyes-which he did-and walked slowly towards the boy's bed, coming to a stop directly in front of him.

Needless to say Remus Lupin shouted out in surprise as he was pushed backwards onto his bed by a rather large black dog.

'What on earth...Sirius?' Remus asked unsurely and Sirius gave a small bark as confirmation, wagging his tail happily at the stunned looking Remus. 'You...you actually managed it...' he whispered in awe and Sirius took this as the best moment to snuggle his head into Remus' neck in a dog-like manner causing Remus to chuckle once more and pet his head in amusement.

Deciding he had had enough Sirius transformed back in to his human state and grinned at his friend.

'So what do you think?' he grinned wildly.

'It's amazing,' Remus admitted. 'I didn't expect you to manage it so soon.'

'Yeah well trust me, it took a lot of work,' He laughed back. 'Now you won't have to be alone during the full moons.'

'I'm not having you there one your own!' Remus warned quickly.

'I won't be, James has managed it too...although I don't pretend to understand how he could possibly like his form...gotta be weird trying to stay balanced,' Sirius laughed loudly causing Remus to look curious. 'Oh no Remy, I'm not telling...you'll just have to wait and see what James' form is.'

The two boys continued to get ready, both being quite careful not to look at the other whilst getting dressed...feeling that it was a somewhat different matter now that each other were aware of their feelings.

'You ready?' Remus asked at the doorway as Sirius finished putting on his shoes.

'Sure thing,' Sirius said happily. 'Oh Remus!' he called before the other boy walked out the door.

'Yes?' Remus replied, turning to see what Sirius wanted. Sirius smiled before walking towards the other boy and placing a hand on his neck before gently pressing Remus' lips to his own. He felt Remus gasp slightly in surprise before responding softly, most likely still unsure of how to properly kiss someone.

But Sirius grinned wildly as he pulled away, now instantly happier and feeling that small blush reaching his cheeks once more. He _seriously _needed to stop blushing, it wasn't something that he had ever done before the previous night and he didn't intend on making it a regular habit.

'We really shouldn't do that in the middle of the dorms you know, they could have walked in.' Remus said looking worried.

'I'm sorry okay, it was stupid.' Sirius sighed; he couldn't help feeling extremely irritated that they would have to keep this a secret. It wasn't fair on either of them and he desperately wanted to be able to do the same things with Remus as every other couple in Hogwarts did. That was when it dawned on him...technically they _weren't a couple._ Neither of them had actually asked the other out.

'Remy,' he began awkwardly.

'Yes?' the pale boy asked and it was at that moment that Sirius realised how much taller his friend had gotten during the summer. Remus may not be as tall as him but he was certainly a lot taller than he been before.

'Um...well I was thinking, are we like...you know,' Sirius asked unsurely, feeling the heat rush to his face once more and saw Remus had a strange look on his face, something that Sirius had never seen cross the boy's face before that moment.

'Yes...I mean, if that's okay with you, that is' Remus replied with far less control and calmness that he usually possessed.

'What were you thinking?' Sirius asked unexpectedly causing Remus to look confused.

'What?'

'A minute ago, you were looking at me funny...I...I couldn't understand it.' He said feeling slightly uneasy at not being able to read his friend's expression.

'I don't know what you mean,' Remus replied, seemingly regaining his composure. Sirius got the distinct feeling that Remus knew exactly what he was on about but decided to let it drop knowing Remus would have dropped it if the situations were reversed.

'Right let's go find our partners in mischief.' Sirius grinned, holding the door open jokingly for Remus, who gave him a playful push and Sirius smiled happily, maybe things wouldn't have to change too much after all.

When Sirius and Remus reached the entrance hall they were surprised to find themselves in the midst of a rather large group of students who were watching a student being dangled in the air by his leg. However, his was no ordinary student who was being dangled, this was Sirius' messy-haired, currently without his glasses best friend.

Immediately feeling his protective instincts take over Sirius pushed through the crowd to find Severus Snape smirking cruelly at Sirius' best friend whilst Peter stood looking horrified and unsure what to do.

'Put him down before I put you in the hospital wing.' Sirius told the boy warningly and Snape sneered at him in return.

'What if I don't? I don't see why I should, he's an arrogant-' But Snape didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Sirius' fist impacted with his face.

'There were immediate shouts of "fight fight fight" and even more students seemed to join their already massive throng.

'What on earth is going on here?' Professor McGonagall's voice rang out clearly. Students seemed to disperse quickly, clearly fearing they would earn her wrath for having stood by watching.

'Mr Black, let Mr Snape go at once!' she shrieked and Sirius let go, before turning to shout.

'Tell that greasy git to let James down then!'

'Mr Black, I will not accept your attitude towards Mr Snape, regardless of whatever problems there are between you. Nor will I accept being shouted at by a pupil' She told him firmly before turning to Snape and adding; 'Mr Snape, let Mr Potter down! I will be informing your head of house.'

'I suppose the two of you will be involved somehow,' she commented loosely to Remus and Peter who had yet to leave the area.

'They didn't do anything Professor,' James said in a defending manner as he was let down by an unhappy Snape and began putting his glasses on once more. 'Sirius and Remus only just got here before you arrived.'

'And, as a Prefect I would have expected you to try and intervene with the situation.' She said, turning to a very ashamed looking Remus.

'Look Professor, it was my fault I threw the punches okay, Remus didn't even have time to intervene cus I ran ahead of him when I saw the crowd, and he barely saw it before you.' Sirius lied, trying to avoid Remus receiving punishment because of his actions.

'Pete didn't do anything either Professor' James added in, defending his friend fiercely and giving Sirius a slightly irritated look for forgetting the chubby boy.

'Well, Mr Black, Mr Snape and Mr Potter I expect you all to see me in detention for the next two nights; five O'clock sharp. I will also be writing to your parents, honestly, the first day of term.' She reprimanded them and she made sure to see that Snape and the Marauders left in different directions to avoid any further complications. Although Sirius noticed that James had drawn his wand and muttered something but he didn't look to see what the other boy had done, knowing if McGonagall caught James and he was looking that he would also get in trouble.

'What the hell is that guy's problem?' Sirius asked furiously once they reached the stairs, feeling himself unintentionally gravitate towards Remus for comfort as the four boys walked in the directions of the kitchens.

'Well...I kind of said to Lily that she would be better off spending time with people who understood the word "wash" and Snape might have been next to her while I said it.' James smirked, looking rather amused with himself.

'So he went psycho and dangled you in the air.' Sirius said disbelievingly to which James nodded looking most unimpressed.

'Exactly! What an overreaction, right?' James said stubbornly, Sirius had to admit that Snape had been a bit over the top but he understood that James had baited him to it. But that wasn't important anyway; James was his best friend so Sirius felt he should be on his side regardless to whatever cruelty or embarrassment James may have inflicted upon the boy.

'So...I assume you guys made up then considering you jumped on the lets defend Remus train back there.' James smiled at Sirius who nodded in return, feeling incredibly strange for keeping such a big secret from his best friend.

'Good, we don't want any issues in the ranks,' James joked well-naturedly. 'Well guess what?' he added with a smirk.

'What?' Sirius replied suspiciously.

'I managed to steal something off of Snivellus while he walked away.' James smirked triumphantly.

'What?' Sirius grinned mischievously.

'A list I saw him making while he was sitting with Lily, a list of spells just like the one he used on me. One's that he's made up himself.'

'You shouldn't take other people's things James,' Remus said disapprovingly. 'It's not very Gryffindor-like behaviour.'

'Oh calm down Remy, it's not a big deal...plus Snape deserves it.' James said snappily, causing Remus to look down awkwardly and Sirius felt immediate irritation at his best friend's harsh tone.

'Harsh James,' he said disapprovingly and James looked up at his friend in surprise, clearly shocked the Sirius had practically told him off.

'Sorry Remy, I didn't mean to be so-'

'It's fine James,' Remus replied quietly, shooting Sirius a thankful smile which he returned happily.

'The point is, now we can use his own spells on him.' James smirked and Sirius had to admit the irony of it was appealing to the darker side of his humour.

'That would be quite funny.' Sirius laughed.

'He really should be more careful where he writes things down, maybe he'll learn to put them somewhere safer from now on.' James smirked in a slightly cruel fashion and Sirius couldn't help but laugh at the boy's comment, despite feeling slightly uneasy about the whole situation.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**I want to say a big thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter 38, I was overwhelmed with how many reviews I got for that chapter!**

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	40. Chapter 40 The Transformation

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Mr Black, will you please stop that ridiculous tapping.' Professor Burse snapped angrily from his desk. Sirius had spent the better part of the lesson unable to concentrate and drumming his fingers repetitively on his desk. He quickly stopped what he was doing but didn't apologise for his behaviour, to lost in his thoughts to care.

He gave a large sigh and stared around the classroom, he could feel Snape's beady eyes watching him closely and it was extremely unsettling, he hadn't meant to draw attention to himself but now that he had he wasn't going to put his head down and work, knowing to well that it would only increase the greasy-haired boy's suspicion.

Sirius was finding it extremely hard to concentrate on his work; they were currently revising work that they had covered in previous years on banshees and Sirius couldn't have done less work if he had tried. If Professor Burse took the notion to stroll over to where Sirius was currently sat then Sirius would be in a _lot _of trouble indeed. So far, with only five or ten minutes of the lesson left he had managed to write the date and the word "banshees" which he had underlined boldly using a ridiculous amount of ink simply because he had continued to drawn over the line continuously in boredom.

It had always been fairly difficult to concentrate in Defense Against the Dark Arts when Remus wasn't there but today was even harder than usual. Today he had to attempt work knowing full well that tonight he and James would be going out to the shrieking shack to meet up with their friend. Remus had been allowed to stay off classes today as he was looking particularly more poorly than usual. Sirius got the feeling that Remus was more poorly due to the fact that he was extremely worried about the night ahead.

Pete had been rather embarrassed that he hadn't managed his transformation in time to join them and Sirius supposed that he probably felt quite left out. But Sirius was determined that he wasn't going to let Remus suffer on his own any longer simply to make Pete feel more important.

'You may now pack up your books and get ready for the end of the class.' Professor Burse's voice droned aimlessly. Professor Burse's hair had now receded back so far that there was hardly any left to see and he still seemed to have a particular dislike for Sirius despite the fact that he had never _really _done anything to deserve it.

The class began packing up their things and James and Pete soon made their way towards Sirius, James looking rather jittery and unfocused himself.

'Is it just me or has today gone ridiculously slow?' James asked with a sigh. Sirius gave a murmur, not really feeling in the mood to talk.

'Are we heading straight up to the dorms or...'

'We should pop into the kitchens, grab something to eat...I don't really feel like sitting about in the Great Hall.' Sirius said quietly.

'Yeah, I suppose...' James said pointlessly and Sirius could see Pete was looking at anything but his two friends, seemingly hurt by the fact that he would be spending the night alone. Sirius couldn't help feeling irritated with Pete's self-pity at that moment; Remus had spent plenty of nights alone in the shack while they were curled up in the dorms, nights full of agony and loneliness. Pete really couldn't complain in comparison with that.

When the class finally ended they had hurried to the kitchens; grabbing more food than they really needed and plenty of treats. They then continued up to the dorms where they came face to face with Remus Lupin who was sitting sadly on his bed look ridiculously pale-even for him-and quite ill.

'Are you like ill on top of the full-moon thing?' James asked looking at the boy worriedly.

'No...I'm fine, just a little peaky.' He smiled weakly and Sirius wanted nothing more than to curl up in the bed with him and make him feel better. Going for the best he could do at the current moment he climbed onto the bed next Remus and gave him a hug before handing him a piece of chocolate cake, which earned a chuckle from his scarred friend.

'Thank you Siri,' he smiled warmly and began eating his cake which caused James to make a rather loud and fake gasp.

'How could you Remy? Didn't your mother ever teach you that you can't have pudding unless you finish your meal first?'

'Yes, I'm sure she did but we're not all mummies' boys Jamsie.' Sirius teased.

'Bugger off Siri,' James laughed in return and, as usual, they began their friendly scuffle. But Pete remained extremely quiet, apparently not wanting to be involved in the group, or thinking that he simply wasn't.

'Hey Pete, why don't you help James?' Sirius laughed. 'After all it's a bit unfair for me to fight a scrawny git like him on his own.' The reaction was immediate as James pushed Sirius onto his back causing Sirius to laugh hysterically and flip the boy over quickly. James may well be the faster of the two but Sirius was definitely the stronger. Sirius held James down, refusing to let him move and finding the boy's struggles extremely amusing.

'I'm warning you Sirius!' James smirked.

'What are you gonna do?' Sirius laughed, but his laughter didn't last long as he quite quickly knocked off by James who had transformed into his stag form. 'That's cheating you git!' Sirius complained loudly to which the stag only lowered his prongs in a threatening pretence. 'Bugger off Prongs!' he joked pushing the stag's prongs as best as he could.

Deciding that he may as well make it a slightly more even playing field he transformed quickly into his dog form, running beneath the stag's stomach and knocking him up the way, causing the stag to fall over with a loud thud. Sirius would have grinned in human form, he had known that James wouldn't be entirely used to his stag form and had played on his weakness of having difficult balance.

Sirius bent forward playfully, tail wagging wildly in the air as he watched James get back up to his feet and rushed forward trying to knock Sirius down, but Sirius dodged it quickly. He was beginning to really enjoy this, as a dog their playful behaviour seemed even more exciting than usual. But it wasn't long before James managed to knock him with his prongs and Sirius fell down with a yelp. Deciding that this game was no longer amusing he bounded towards Remus' bed and leapt up, curling up next to his scarred friend who gently began patting him.

'Aww, did James hurt you with his prongs?' Remus pretended to coo causing Pete to laugh properly for the first time that day.

'Not so funny when _you're_ the one getting knocked down, huh.' James laughed, now in human form once more.

Sirius didn't reply and nestled further into Remus' lap, eyes following James' movements unhappily.

'You know, it's unfair that you can just bounce up on the bed and look all sad like that. I don't get any comfort and you knocked me right over.' James whined unhappily as he climbed onto the end of Remus' bed.

Well, if James wanted attention then Sirius was happy to give him it, he thought to himself feeling his own tail wag happily at the idea. Without giving any kind of notice for what he was about to do, Sirius jumped forward and began licking James face causing the boy to shout loudly in disgust and the other two marauders to roar with laughter.

'You, Sirius are a complete and utter arse.' James told him as he pushed the dog of. Sirius gave a small whine to show he wasn't happy and then proceeded to return to Remus' side once more, using the boy's lap as his pillow. This was quite a good idea, Sirius thought happily, he could get all the affection he wanted in dog form and no one would even bat an eyelid.

But Sirius didn't remain happy for much longer, before long he and James were throwing the Invisibility Cloak over them and heading down to the shrieking shack a small bit behind Remus and Madame Pomfrey. Sirius could feel the adrenaline rushing through him as they waited patiently for Madame Pomfrey to leave the Willow and get out of sight before heading in themselves.

'Remus?' James called unsurely as they went began ascending the stairs.

'I'm up here, you should transform soon...it won't be much longer now.' Remus told them shakily from somewhere above them.

When they reached the room Sirius was quite surprised to see that there was very little in the room other than a rather magnificent four-poster bed similar to the Gryffindor dorms' beds except larger and more comfortable looking.

Whilst waiting for them to arrive Remus had undressed and was now sitting on the bed with a blanket draped over him to keep him warm and Sirius thanked every possible god there was for that blanket. The last thing he would have wanted was to be stuck in a room with an uncovered naked Remus whilst James was there.

Sirius and James both made their way over to the bed, sitting on either side of their scarred friend.

'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,' Remus said suddenly, fear evident in his eyes.

'I promise you Remus, nothing bad is going to happen...you'll wake up tomorrow morning and we'll both be here in once piece.' Sirius said softly, placing an arm over Remus' shoulders to comfort him.

'You don't know that, at the least you'll probably come away with half a dozen scars...and how exactly do you plan on explaining them?'

'We'll cross that bridge if it comes to it, okay?' Remus gave a small nod but Sirius was pretty sure that he had done so solely because he was too exhausted to argue.

'It's close, you two need to transform now!' Remus panicked, his eyes closing slightly as if trying to fight it off slightly longer-but there was no fighting it...Sirius knew that and Remus was more than aware of it.

They did as they were told and transformed, James backed off immediately giving the boy some room but Sirius remained where he was giving a small whine and rubbing his head against Remus' side.

'I'll be fine Siri, I've put up with it long enough.' He said sadly and Sirius gave his arm a small lick before backing off and standing beside James with nothing to do but watch.

Remus had went horribly rigid and seemed even paler than he had been throughout the day; before they even had a chance to realise it was starting Remus' head and body seemed to be lengthening and the his ever elongating body seemed to be emitting cracking noises, as if his body was desperately trying to adjust but with nowhere near enough time to actually do so. Sirius was lying down on the ground, whimpering as he watched his friend struggle under the moon's influence. Watched as the boy's hair began to grow out through his skin and then suddenly it stopped and Remus was now finished his transformation.

It didn't take long for the Werewolf to notice the new intruders to its home. It walked forward to them growling in a low defensive manner and Sirius saw James move backwards fearfully which caught the Werewolf's attention immediately. The Werewolf moved forward towards James seeming to realise that he had the chance to dominate the group and Sirius gave a small whine, unsure what was going to happen.

But the Werewolf stopped in its tracks, staring at Sirius, apparently confused by the dog's whine. He changed direction towards Sirius and Sirius immediately lowered his head to the ground with the rest of his body and allowed himself to be sniffed curiously. After a few minutes the large creature stopped and looked at him expectantly and Sirius rolled onto his side instinctively and allowed the wolf even closer, its muzzle grazing slowly across his neck, leaving Sirius feeling extremely vulnerable.

But the Werewolf seemed satisfied and moved back slightly before snapping suddenly at Sirius paw causing him to yelp loudly and he could feel the blood spill almost instantly. But Sirius could see that the he had only meant it to be a playful bite. He watched as the Werewolf ran to the other side of the room and lowered itself playfully, waiting for Sirius to take his strike.

So it continued like that for hours, the two animals running back and forward, playfully nipping each other. With the large stag continuing to stand by; ready to intervene if necessary.

It was a long time before the games stopped and Sirius hobbled up onto the four-poster, lying down to sleep; blood dripping from various places where the Werewolf had nipped him. What had been particularly surprising was when the Werewolf had followed, curling up next to him and snuggling close.

He looked towards James uncertainly, feeling sorry for the stag who hadn't had much to do all night. But the stag stared back and something in its gaze told him that James wasn't too bothered. James, who wasn't entirely perfect with his balance yet, chose to sleep on the floor that night rather than manoeuvre awkwardly to get on the already crowded bed. It was hard to believe that the Werewolf curled up beside him was extremely dangerous and would kill a human on sight.

He to admit, despite the fact that it was a really dangerous creature he thought it looked quite adorable snuggled in at his side. Moving slowly, so as to not set the Werewolf off into another playful episode, he moved towards Remus' previously used blanket and brought it back up to the bed and lay down on it. He supposed Remus would be needing it when he woke up and with thought he fell asleep, perfectly content to allow the Werewolf to clean his wounds whilst he slept.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

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	41. Chapter 41 Tails, Worries and Too Far

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius awoke early the next morning, still in dog form and next to a highly unclothed Remus. Blushing furiously Sirius transformed quickly back into his human form, wincing slightly with pain, and pulled the blanket over his pale friend, causing Remus' eyes to open suddenly, darting from side to side in order to assess the damage.

'Where-'

'Its okay, James didn't want to climb up onto the bed in stag form.'

'And...I did?' he said unsurely clearly confused as to why he was curled up on the bed, Sirius got the feeling Remus didn't normally awake on the bed.

'Yeah I headed up here for a nap and you followed,' Sirius shrugged, and Remus continued to look on in surprise.

'I...I don't hurt as much as I usually do' Remus stated in bewilderment.

'That cus you didn't spend the night tearing away at yourself.' Sirius replied simply.

'So...how did it go?' Reus asked, his tone showing that he himself was unsure whether he really wanted to know.

'It went quite well,' Sirius replied truthfully. 'You transformed, tried to show us you were boss but got distracted...'

'Distracted?'

'Yeah, I let you smell me and then once you decided I was okay to have around we played.'

'Played.' He replied in a disbelieving tone. Sirius nodded enthusiastically in return before laughing at the boy's surprise.

'Yeah we spent hours just running back and forward, pretending to attack each other and stuff...it was actually quite fun.' He grinned causing the other boy to chuckle weakly.

'Well, I can honestly say I wasn't expecting to hear that when I woke up.'

'We should probably go,' Sirius said sadly with a nod towards James and Remus nodded in agreement, looking unhappy with their situation. He leaned forward wrapping his arms carefully around his friend's weakened body and held him close for a few moments, allowing himself to be lost in the boy's presence.

But, with a sigh Sirius had to get up and he headed over to the stag that was sleeping at the bedside.

'James, wake up we need to go before Pomfrey gets here.' He said quickly, giving the stag a pat on his side to wake him up. James had quickly looked around to check it was morning and that Remus was no longer a Werewolf before changing back to normal.

'We could stay under the cloak...' James suggested weakly.

'No, it'll only make things more awkward for Remy if he has to pretend we aren't here.' Sirius told him and with one final look towards the boy – and a quick secret smile between Sirius and Remus - they headed out and up to the castle.

As soon as they were away from the tree Sirius sat down, exhaling loudly.

'What's up?'

'Just a bit sore from last night, even playful bites are fairly painful.' Sirius laughed lightly.

'So does that mean we're making a stop to get some things from the potions storeroom?' James laughed loudly.

'Nah, I'll be fine...it's just a few cuts. So what's the plan for today then?'

'I'd say, we go find Pete...then go to the Great Hall to grab something to eat...then improvise.' James grinned and Sirius couldn't help laughing at the ridiculously child-like look on James' face.

'Whatever you say, Prongs.' Sirius quipped.

'You do realise that saying it more times won't make it any more annoying. I prefer the name Prongs to Jamsie any day.' James laughed.

'Fine, but I'll still call you Jamsie as well.' Sirius smirked.

'So if you get to call me Prongs does that mean I get to give you a nickname to do with your form then?' James smirked mischievously.

'That depends on what it is.' Sirius replied suspiciously.

'I could always call you "fleas".' James teased and Sirius made sure to hit him over the head for his comment.

'I-Don't-Have-Fleas' Sirius said through gritted teeth.

'Yet my friend, yet.' James laughed and together they continued their quest to find Peter...it was times like this when they wish they had the Marauders Map to hand.

'Oh, Pete' Sirius called out in a sing-song voice as he and James entered their dorm.

'Thank goodness you two are back I've been unable to leave the room since last night!' Pete squeaked unhappily.

'Why?' James asked curiously but he didn't have to wait long to find out why. Pete climbed out from behind his bed curtains sporting a brightly coloured tail.

'What did you do?' Sirius barked out in laughter.

'I...I was trying to work on my transformation since I had nothing else to do and I got stuck like this...and I couldn't remember the spell to get rid of it and-'

'-I'll find the book.' James laughed as he took another glance at the boy's tail.

'What are you transforming into?' Sirius laughed in a joking manner, looking at the object sticking out on the boy's bum. 'A worm?'

'No!' Pete said defensively. 'It's my tail, I'm not turning into a worm.' He looked quite offended which only caused Sirius to laugh harder.

'Well Pete, I hate to tell you this but your tail looks like a worm.'

'James!' Pete called in a whiny tone, clearly expecting James to make Sirius drop it.

'Shut up Fleas.' He smirked, trying to annoy Sirius further.

'You know if you don't think of something nicer to call me then I'm going to get Remus' help at finding a particularly horrific nickname for you.'

'What makes you think Remus would betray me like that?' James pouted.

'My amazing charms of course, no one can resist doing something if I want them to.'

'That sounds so _wrong_ Siri,' James said loudly whilst smirking at him, and Sirius had to laugh at the implication.

'Bugger off Prongs.' He laughed and was quickly followed by James jumping up triumphantly with the book in his hands and Sirius decided he may as well get changed now while his friends were busy.

Pete's was now back to his tail-less self and the three boys had went to have their breakfast soon after James had fixed it. They had continued onto their first class of the day which – for Sirius and James - had been Care of Magical Creatures...the class had went extremely quickly which was quite a shock.

What came as even more of a shock was when they had reached their second class – Defence Against the Dark Arts to find Remus Lupin sitting in his usual seat, still ridiculously pale but less sickly looking than the day before.

'Why the in _Merlin's _name are you here?' Sirius muttered as soon as he sat down, feeling extremely worried for the boy.

'I'm apparently fit enough to return to class.' Remus replied simply, making sure his voice was quiet enough to go unheard by anyone else and Sirius immediately lowered his own voice to match Remus'

'But you _never _come to class the day after.' He whispered, trying desperately to understand why Remus was putting himself through this.

'I'm usually in a lot more pain, _and _I usually have to have various spells used on me to heal my wounds...and when I awoke this morning I barely had any marks on me at all. Only the ones from...you know.'

'And she wasn't suspicious? I mean...'

'I'm not interested Sirius, I'm just glad to be able to get back to my classes. What I _am _interested in is why _I_ have no wounds yet _you _are practically hobbling to class.' Remus said firmly, his eyes sparkling with concern.

'It's just a few cuts,' Sirius told him softly, It wasn't intentional...we were just playing.'

'Wounds like that-'

'-Don't affect animals.' Sirius cut over him steadily knowing that Remus was just panicky about affecting his friends in any way.

'This is all incredibly risky.' Remus said looking uneasy.

'And so is discussing this in class.' Sirius said shortly but Remus didn't back down, holding Sirius' gaze longer than usual and Sirius realised just how much more confident Remus was from the shy boy he had originally met on the Hogwarts Express.

'I didn't mean it to sound that harsh Remy, I'm just worried about you.' He said truthfully and he saw Remus' shoulders lose some of their previous tension.

'Don't worry about it, I just feel quite stressed still.'

'_That_ is exactly my point Remus, it has more of effects on you than just physically. I think you should have taken the day off.'

'I know my own limits Sirius,' he replied curtly, leaving Sirius feeling extremely frustrated.

'Fine Remus...whatever.'

'Sirius, please don't do this.' Remus said in a tired voice and Sirius felt even more frustrated than before, he couldn't stay irritated with Remus when he could clearly hear such exhaustion in the boy's voice.

Sirius dug quickly into his bag and pulled out his things for class as well as two other items; a Sugar Quill and a small bar of chocolate.

'Me and James were going to sneak you it later on in the usual place, but you're here now so...' Sirius shrugged and handed the bar of chocolate to Remus who smiled in a grateful way.

'James and I, Sirius, and I know that you know that already because you are actually highly intelligent...and thank you for the chocolate.'

'Don't keep it in your hand though, put it on the desk and just sneak bits...if Professor Burse notices and complains I'll take the blame, he hates me anyway.' Sirius smirked.

'You're going to rot your teeth, you know.' Remus commented lightly as Sirius began chewing on his Sugar Quill.

'Probably, and you'll get chubby from all the chocolate...how odd we will look by the time we reach thirty...walking down the street; one of us rather obese and the other without teeth...or with extremely disgusting teeth and horridly bad breath.'

'Who said you don't already have bad breath?' Remus joked before laughing at the mock offended look on Sirius' face.

'Well, you certainly didn't complain before' Sirius whispered with a smirk and watched in amusement as Remus choked slightly on a piece of chocolate, beginning to blush furiously.

'You would think by fifth year people would take their studies seriously enough to stay quiet and do their work, or at least have enough respect to not disturb other people.' Snape commented to Lily, just loud enough for Sirius, Remus and a few of the closer tables to hear.

'You would think by the time someone got into fifth year they would have learnt the function of shampoo.' Sirius said in a similar voice, facing Remus who looked wary; wondering if the two boys were going to start an outright argument.

'Learn some new insults Black,' Snape said haughtily, eyes bearing into Sirius with hatred and his voice now carrying loud enough for the rest of the class to hear.

'I would, but I was hoping if I kept up the jokes about your lack of hygiene then you might eventually do something about it.' Sirius replied cruelly, gaining a snigger from James who was further back and listening intently.

'I won't hold your comments against you, I suppose if _I _was as incredibly unloved and despised by my family as you are then I would want to pick faults in other people just as you do. After all, you need something to fill the hollow gap don't you?' Snape sneered cruelly – reminding Sirius clearly of his first ever Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.

There was a general shock spreading through the class at Snape's words and James had made to move forward towards the greasy boy but before he got anywhere near Snape a different voice was heard. The voice of Remus Lupin;

'That was low, even for someone of your calibre – or lack, thereof – Sirius has us; James, Peter and I, and he doesn't need anyone else. Unlike _some _people I could mention, Sirius actually understands the difference between what is morally right or wrong. I'm sure he would much rather have real friends than have the respect of people who think of the dark arts as an acceptable hobby.' Remus said sharply, making it clear that he included Snape in the same category of scum as Sirius' family. Sirius was surprised at how angered Remus seemed by Snape's comments. Remus _never _rose to anything Snape about any of them and was always the one to tell them not to do so.

'When you are all finished,' Professor Burse snapped in irritation for the chain reaction of outbursts. 'I will be informing your head of houses.'

The class went back into a an awkward silence once more, fully aware that in the short time since the start of term things had become even worse than normal between The Marauders and Snape. Sirius could only wonder how far things would go between them before the end of their time at Hogwarts.

'Thank you,' Sirius whispered quietly to his pale, scarred friend. Remus looked up from his book and gave Sirius a small smile before breaking a bit of chocolate off his bar and handing it to Sirius in an attempt to make him feel better.

'It'll make you feel better.' Remus said lightly, amusing Sirius who had thought exactly what Remus had said. Sirius accepted with a smile but he didn't think it would make him feel better at all. What he wanted to make him feel better was to steal a kiss from his friend right there and then.

With a final sigh Sirius went back to chewing on his Sugar Quill, doubting he would get much work done during the class but deciding he could just copy Remus' notes later on – after all Defence Against the Dark Arts seemed to be Remus' best class, despite the fact that he was often treated unfairly for being friends with Sirius.

But Sirius was extremely aware, throughout the rest of the class, that he had to pairs of eyes on him; Remus' – which he assumed would be fully of sympathy, which he didn't particularly want – and Snape's which made Sirius increasingly uncomfortable.

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**I'm extremely happy with the amount of reviews I got in the last chapter!**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili loves you**

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**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

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	42. Chapter 42 Christmas Year Five

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

It was Christmas morning and the marauders were all happily sleeping, peacefully unaware that they were about to be awoken from their slumber.

'Happy Christmas to you, happy Christmas to you, happy Christmas dear marauders, happy Christmas to you.'

'Siri, you do realise that _that_ is not actually a Christmas song?' James groaned loudly.

'I'm expressing my individuality Prongsie!' Sirius exclaimed loudly.

'Can you express it somewhere else?' Pete added, face down in his pillows and trying desperately to get back to sleep.

'You're all being such bores!' Sirius complained. 'It's Christmas, now you have to get up!'

'It's one O'clock in the fucking morning Sirius I'm not getting up!' James retorted. 'Go bug Remus!'

'But Remus is sleeping!' Sirius explained slowly.

'So were we 'til you started screeching.'

'I'll have you know Prongs, that I have the voice of an Angel.'

'Yeah, an Angel that's screaming in pain after being continuously stabbed with the devil's pitchfork.' James grumbled angrily.

'The devil doesn't _really_ have a pitchfork Prongs.' Sirius said, changing subjects from his singing.

'How do you know, best friends are you?'

'Of course I am silly, think about it...my best friend has horns,' he giggled wildly.

'I have Prongs, Siri,'

'and...'

'And...why are you so ridiculously happy, and strange and loud at one in the morning Sirius?'

'Because Prongsie-pie, I am spending my Christmas with my bestest friends in the whole world!' Sirius grinned happily. This was the first Christmas that all four Marauders had spent together and Sirius was extremely happy about it – having had few happy Christmas' in his lifetime.

'Once again, either be happy somewhere else or go bug Remus.'

'But Remus is asleep!' Sirius said once more.

'So?'

'The full moon was only two nights ago Prongs, I don't want to cause him to lose any more sleep.' He said simply, crossing his arms in a determined manner.

'Yeah well singing in the dorms at one in the morning is probably going to wake people you know.'

'I figured Remy can probably sleep through anything after living in a dorm with us for so long, looks like I'm quite right' he smirked.

'Pete can't.' James stated.

'Pete gets woke up by someone leaving the room, James.' Sirius replied rolling his eyes at the boy's comparison. 'Plus you can't really compare Remus and Peter, can you?'

'Whatever Sirius, will you please please please let me go to sleep now?' James begged, still without his glasses in the hopes that if he didn't put them on he wouldn't have to get up.

'No,' Sirius smirked mischievously before transforming in to his dog form and beginning to pace back and forward across the length of their dorm in an annoying manner.

'I swear if you don't stop padding back and forward I _will_ kill you.' James shouted loudly.

'Don't worry James, I'm up now. I'll keep him amused for a few hours' Remus tired voice came from the furthest away bed.

'See, I've woke Remus up now, hope your happy.' James smirked.

'Come on Siri, walkies.' Remus joked lightly, opening the door to head down to the Common Room. Sirius gave small growl towards James – which James only laughed at – and then began making his way down the stairs, transforming half way down in case anyone was down there. This was rather unlikely considering there were very few people in Gryffindor Tower for the holidays. He and the other Marauders near enough had the tower to themselves; the only other Gryffindors who had chosen to stay were two second years girls and a seventh year – who had only stayed because he liked strolling around showing off his Head Boy badge.

'So, _why_ couldn't you sleep like any normal human?' Remus sighed as he sat in front of the fire looking extremely tired.

'I'm sorry Remy; you should go up to bed.' Sirius said feeling guilty for disturbing the boy so soon after his transformation.

'That wasn't an answer Siri,'

'Well, I guess I'm just too excited...this is going to be the best Christmas ever, I mean-everyone's here and I just couldn't sleep properly knowing that it was Christmas and technically James usually wakes me up on Christmas cus he's basically a Christmas obsessed freak and-'

'Yes I see that you're excited but-'

'Ooh guess what, I got you two presents this year!' Sirius grinned suddenly having thought of a fun idea.

'Siri-' Remus began awkwardly, and Sirius knew Remus was feeling uncomfortable due to the fact that his family were rather poor. They spent a lot of their money on trying to find a cure for Remus' lycanthropy but Sirius thought their attempts to be quite pointless, it was never going to happen. He figured Remus probably thought along the same lines but allowed them to continue in order to let them feel better for trying.

'No worries, the second one doesn't cost anything at all,' Sirius grinned happily, enjoying the look of confusion on his friend's face. The group had made a decision that they couldn't spend over a set amount on each other in order to make the present buying fair and had each bought things for each other from Hogsmeade on their last trip there.

'Okay...' Remus said awkwardly.

'You gottta close you your eyes Remy.' Sirius told him in a pretend exasperated voice. Remus did as instructed and grinning happily Sirius leaned forward, kissing Remus for the first time in what seemed a century – sure that was an exaggeration, but so what – and for once Sirius wasn't worried about being caught, no one else out of the five other Gryffindors who had chosen to stay for the holidays were going to suddenly awaken and decide to go wandering around Gryffindor Tower at that moment.

Apparently Remus-who was now perfectly awake-seemed to be thinking along the same lines and was now kissing him back in a more passionate way than he ever done before, clearly aware that this was the best chance they were getting anytime soon. Sirius sighed happily against the other boy's mouth, glad to finally have some time alone with him, Remus was clearly as up for their session as he was; Sirius was now being pressed backwards and down onto the chair, feeling his heart rate speed up considerably now that he had Remus pressing down upon him.

'Mhmm,' Sirius felt his face flush madly, humiliated by his unplanned response and he felt only more embarrassed when Remus pulled his head back, his breath teasing against Sirius' lips as he chuckled at Sirius' embarrassment.

'I wouldn't laugh if I was you Remy,' Sirius warned with a grin.

'Or what?' Remus challenged, his eyes twinkling mischievously. Bt Sirius couldn't resist, he pulled the boy into yet another kiss, completely throwing Remus off guard and let his hands trail up the boy's sides. Remus kissed him back hungrily and if it wasn't for the fact that Sirius' instincts as a Marauder seemed to have taken over he would have forgotten his plan straight away.

However, after being one of the Marauders for so long, he simply couldn't resist and began tickling the boy's side furiously causing Remus to buck unexpectedly in an attempt to rid himself of the tickling and the two boys fell off the chair, landing with an exceptionally loud thud.

Sirius burst into laughter, despite the pain in his side from having Remus' knee connect with it as they fell. Seeming to see the funny side Remus joined in with his laughter and Sirius reached forward and pulled Remus into another kiss, although this time short and sweet.

'You're a git Siri,' Remus said, rolling his eyes at Sirius' behaviour.

'What the hell is all the noise about?' A voice shouted from the stairs. The two boys pulled apart quickly, faces slightly flushed, just before James and Peter came into view.

'Don't blame me; the noise was entirely Sirius' fault.' Remus stated, hand held up as if to prove this point.

'I couldn't resist it, I saw an opportunity for attack and I took it.' Sirius explained.

'Attack?' James asked in an exasperated voice.

'A tickle attack!' Sirius said defensively, feeling glad that his face had returned to its normal temperature.

'Merlin's sake Sirius, even when Remus takes you out of the room you still manage to disturb our sleep.' James complained.

'Sorry,' Sirius said weakly, hoping they would return to their beds and let him and Remus return to their alone time.

'It's a bit late for _sorry _Siri, so how about we sort out the presents and then...get something to eat from the kitchens, it won't be time for breakfast for hours yet.'

'I don't wanna open presents 'til later.' Sirius said suddenly, eyes lighting up with excitement as he ran towards the window and found that there was more snow than just the snow that was falling from the skies.

'Why?'

'It's snowed! We need to go play in the snow James there's loads of it!'

'I suppose it'll certainly be a wakeup call for everyone.' Remus chuckled and the four boys hurried back up their dorm to change clothes.

They had taken the cloak in order to get outside without being caught by any of the teachers and when they reached the entrance door they pulled it opened and rushed outside, ready to begin their fun.

'No fair Prongs, I wasn't ready!' Sirius huffed as he was hit in the back of the head by a snowball.

'Aww I'm sorry Siri, would you prefer I told you in advance before throwing?' James teased and Sirius threw himself towards the boy, completely disregarding their planned snowball fight.

'The two of you are going to end up ill and stuck in the hospital wing tonight.' Remus warned them, but the two boys continued to roll around in a ridiculous fashion, ignoring their scarred friend's warnings.

Sirius held the bespectacled boy down easily and grinned wildly at his triumph.

'Ha, you can't transform this time Prongs.' He teased.

'NO but I have room to move my knees,' James threatened with a smirk causing Sirius to jump off the boy immediately.

'That was low James, you can't threaten people below the belt.'

'I think you'll find I just did Siri.'

'Be nice and I'll hit you.'

'Don't you mean or I'll hit you?'

'Maybe, Maybe not.' Sirius joked.

'Sorry Siri, I'm not into that kind of stuff.' James teased.

'You're a git James.' Sirius laughed.

'I know, I know...It's a gift.' James explained, running a hand through his already messy hair. Sirius rolled his eyes at his best friend before winking at him and James grinned back, understanding straight away. The two boys quickly scooped up handfuls of snow and began assaulting the other two Marauders.

'That was an unprovoked attack!' Pete squeaked as they got closer, continuing to throw the snow at the two boys. Sirius and James went their separate ways; James chasing after Pete and Sirius after Remus, although Sirius had his work cut out for him considering Remus' fast reflexes. But he supposed he wasn't too fussed about winning anyway and tackled the boy in an attempt to surprise him and get a temporary advantage – which he did.

Sirius had successfully tackled his friend to the ground, grinning triumphantly as he sat atop Remus.

'Weren't expecting that, were you?' He smirked, but his win was only temporary as Remus quickly managed to flip them over so that he was now on top.

'Weren't expecting that, were you?' Remus mimicked, causing Sirius to laugh loudly.

'On the contrary Remus, I was hoping for it.' He laughed, causing Remus to blush wildly as he looked down upon him. Remus quickly made to move, clearly embarrassed by Sirius' words and not wanting to sit there with James and Peter about. But James was too busy continuing to hold Pete down and stuff his t-shirt with snow to actually notice them, and Sirius took the opportunity to grab hold of Remus, preventing him from moving from their position.

'Siri-'

'Yes Remy?' he teased, allowing his fingers to trace along the lining of the boy's trousers.

'Stop,' But Sirius didn't believe Remus' words for two seconds. If Remus really didn't want to be sat there he would have already moved, he was by far stronger than Sirius and would have no problem pulling away from the boy's grip.

'I don't think your hearts really in your request there Remy.' He smirked but he heard James' sudden laugh as he turned towards the two boys and saw Sirius beneath Remus. Sirius immediately moved his hands and James seemed not to have noticed anything. Sirius couldn't help thinking his best friend was either extremely innocent minded, – which he knew him not to be – or completely oblivious.

'Aww, did Sirius get his ass kicked?' James teased and Remus pulled away, removing himself from his previous position atop Sirius.

'Shut it Prongs.' Sirius laughed, aiming another snowball at his messy-haired friend.

'That my friend is a declaration of war!' James said dramatically and both boys began another round of their games.

By the time they had returned to Gryffindor Tower and dried off they barely had time to open their presents before they had needed to head down for their Christmas Dinner. Sirius had received a large box with an assortment of different sweets and circular tub full of different types of Fudge from Peter, A magical Penknife and a book entitled "100 Reasons to Love Quidditch" from James, and a box of Sugar Quills a red scarf which had a large black paw print on it from Remus.

When they eventually stopped stuffing their faces the four boys had returned to their dorm they had been SO exhausted that it only took a few rounds of Wizard Chess to push them to their limits, ensuring they were ready for bed.

Waiting patiently Sirius waited for the sounds of Peter's snores and James' ridiculously loud breathing before climbing out of bed and making his way towards Remus' four-poster bed.

'Remy?' he whispered, hoping not to awaken the others. The red curtains opened, revealing a tired looking Remus Lupin who smiled softly and pulled back the covers; allowing Sirius to climb in next to him.

'What's wrong?' Remus asked, clearly wondering why Sirius had risked being caught sneaking into Remus' bed.

'Nothing,' Sirius replied honestly, snuggling closer instinctively. 'I just...I dunno really.'

'It's okay, I don't mind,' Remus smiled allowing Sirius to cuddle in. 'You know, I think you're getting more affectionate by the day.' Remus said lightly.

'Bugger off.' He laughed into Remus' chest. There was no denying that he loved being this close to Remus, even if he was lying with him doing absolutely nothing it still thrilled him to no end.

'You do realise that you just told me to "bugger off" from my own bed.' Remus chuckled in amusement. Sirius didn't even reply. He didn't need to and Remus didn't push him for any kind of conversation. Perfectly content to sit in each other's company without uttering a single word and without anything other than a soft kiss goodnight they fell asleep. This had most definitely been Sirius' best Christmas ever.

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**I'm extremely happy with the amount of reviews I've been getting in the last few chapters and I'm really thankful for them and to everyone who makes the effort to review!**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Aneelili**

**Kombinant**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Siredna**

**Wabb 1t**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**SweetoothMegs**

**Neko Nija Hezza**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	43. Chapter 43 Theories and Realisations

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'And _that _is my theory,' Snape said proudly to Lily Evans just before rounding the corner and bumping into none other than James Potter and Sirius Black.

'Do tell Snivellus, I do love theories.' James said with a smirk.

'Yeah, Snivellus. What's your theory about?' Sirius grinned.

'If you knew you wouldn't be grinning like first years on a sugar high.' Snape said in a low, cruel tone.

'We were only being polite, Snivellus. No need to get defensive.' James laughed.

'Oh, shut up Potter.' The redhead snapped. 'You really aren't half as funny as you seen to think you are.'

'But Evans, I merely wanted to discuss theories with this..._fine, intelligent being_.' It was clear in James' voice that he was struggling to use those words about Snape and Sirius let out a roar of laughter at his friend's facial expression.

'Trust me; you really _don't _want to know.' She told them, eyes containing a strange, unidentifiable expression as she spoke.

'Yeah, but you saying that just makes us all the more curious.' Sirius grinned wildly.

'Well seeing as there isn't much I can do to make the two of you grow up...I'm leaving, I don't really fancy the company.' She said, looking at the two boys disapprovingly before turning and walking away, Snape rushing along by her side and shooting a smirk at James.

'Ooh,' Sirius called to her retreating back. 'Well _sorry_ our company isn't as interesting as Snivellus' seems to be.'

'Grow up, Black.' She called without turning around.

'Somebody's time of the month?' He laughed to James.

'Ugh, Siri...' James said looking slightly disgusted. 'Now I'll need to do something to put that out of my mind.'

'Like what?'

'Like, follow them and wind up Snape.' James smirked. Sirius nodded with fake enthusiasm, James' latest obsession was finding as many ways as possible to humiliate and torment their fellow classmate. It had been amusing at first when it was silly little pranks but it was getting a bit boring now. Sirius, however, had continued to be James' back up support on these occasions as a lame attempt –in his own head- to make up for the fact that he was still hiding a ridiculously large secret from-and therefore betraying-his best friend.

So the cycle had begun; James would bully Snape in order to make himself feel better about the constant turn downs he was receiving from Lily Evans, and Sirius would bully Snape to vent his frustration at keeping his and Remus' secret from James.

He knew it was wrong to take it out on someone else, hell it was completely un-Gryffindor like behaviour. But he couldn't seem to break from his cycle. They would all be randomly sitting about doing nothing and to fill in the boredom and frustration they would distract themselves by making someone else feel as shit as they did.

There was one slight flaw in this plan though, Remus Lupin, sure Remus never stopped them and had gotten to the point where he rarely bothered telling them off now but Sirius could see the disappointment in his eyes every time they pulled a stunt in front of a group of people, every time they did something to make Snape's life hell. In all honesty, Sirius hated himself for it, for making Remus uncomfortable and for putting him in the awkward situation of doing nothing because he didn't want to land them in trouble, despite his Prefect duties. Sirius got the feeling that Remus was only remaining quiet because the group seemed to have taken a cruel turn for the worst and Remus didn't want to be on the outside of their group. Didn't want to lose their friendship and Sirius was constantly worried that their behaviour would soon affect his and Remus' relationship.

They had continued to wind up Snape for a further hour before getting bored with it and wandering back up to Gryffindor Tower where they got quite a surprise.

Remus Lupin was sitting on the edge of his bed apparently anticipating their return.

'Where have you been?' Remus asked, looking slightly happier than he had of late.

'Out and about.' James said flippantly, Remus' face immediately looked stressed and exasperated – having taken James reply to mean 'tormenting Snape'.

'Well, I have quite a surprise for you.' He smiled, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes and he picked up a small box, holding it out to them.

'Why Remy, you shouldn't have. Its months left 'til my birthday, and look!' Sirius exclaimed animatedly. 'A box! I always wanted a box too...how did you guess?'

Remus chuckled in return, apparently amused by his friend's exclamation and Sirius felt slightly better. Surely if he made someone feel good then it balanced out how they had just made Snape feel?

It's what's in the box that is important.' Remus smiled. Feeling slightly suspicious Sirius stretched out his hand, hovering above the box.

'How do I know it's not a shrunken dragon that's going to burn my hand off?' Sirius joked, to which Remus smiled and replied;

'Do you trust me?'

'Course I do!' Sirius declared, making sure to look him straight in the eye, before putting his hand into the box and picking up the contents; it moved. He jumped, throwing the item in the air in shock.

'Sirius!' Remus shouted, looking panicked. But James caught the offending item in his hand looking at it in surprise. The item was no mere item though, it was a rat.

'A rat? Why the hell would you have a rat Remy?' Sirius asked loudly, horrified by the small creature. 'You can't keep it Remy, I'll end up squishing it by accident, mark my words! That and I'll be extremely tempted to chase it when I'm in my doggy form'

But James had clicked quicker than Sirius and was grinning wildly.

'No way? Is this Pete?' James exclaimed happily, to which Remus nodded in return.

'Turn back Pete!' James grinned, placing him down on the ground. Pete did as he was told and soon there was a chubby boy standing where the rat had just stood.

'Pete, that's fantastic!' James exclaimed happily, pulling his friend into a hug and Sirius joined in, throwing his arms around the two boys and thinking it had been ridiculously long since their last group hug.

'Come on, Remy! You know you wanna join the group hug.' Sirius grinned and Remus moved towards them joining in happily.

Sirius desperately wanted everything back to normal, the way they had been before things had got complicated. Yet, at the same time, he knew that if given the chance he wouldn't change how things had turned out, not really. He couldn't bear the idea of _not _having Remus now. He was far too attached, had even began sharing a bed with the boy on a regular basis simply because he loved the closeness of it-the closeness of Remus. He gave small sigh immediately, thinking of how he couldn't wait for it to be night time just so he could curl up with his Remy.

'Siri,' James said slowly waving his hand in front of Sirius' face.

'Huh?'

'You looked kinda distant, mate.' James laughed and Sirius gave a small chuckle in return before turning towards Pete once more.

'When did you manage it?'

'Yesterday, but I wanted to try it out a few times to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

'Yesterday!' James said looking astounded.

'Yeah...' Pete replied looking quite awkward.

'And you kept it from us?' James asked looking slightly hurt. 'Even if it was a fluke we wouldn't have laughed or anything. We are Marauders-'

'-really?' Sirius interrupted faking astonishment. 'How come no one ever told me?'

'Shut it Fleas,' James laughed and the continued what he had been saying before. 'Anyway, the point is, Marauders don't keep secrets Pete, eh Fleas?' James smirked looking at Sirius.

'Shut up Prongs, I don't have fleas.' Sirius laughed, but the laugh was fake and hollow. James' words had only made him feel all the more guilty about lying to James for so long. Maybe it wasn't really lying; he thought to himself, he had just simply neglected to inform his best friend that he was currently in a relationship...with their best friend.

'Siri,' James said, waving his hand in front of the boy's face again. 'What is up with you, mate? Your acting really weird, you keep zoning out.'

'Dunno, guess I could do with a lie down.' He lied awkwardly.

'Cool, well we'll get out your hair for a bit.' James said looking worried about his best friend and hinted to the others that they should leave.

'I think I'm going to get started on that Potions essay instead, James.' Remus informed him and James looked a tad disappointed but nodded all the same.

'Right, well see you guys later then, me and Pete are off for a wander.' He smirked and Sirius got the feeling that without Sirius there to amuse his best friend, Snape was going to get an even harsher treatment than usual.

The two boys left the room and Sirius threw himself down onto Remus' bed.

'Is there a reason why you can't lie on your own bed?' Remus smiled at him.

'Your bed's comfier.' He lied.

'Nonsense Sirius,' Remus chuckled. 'So...what's wrong?' he continued, worry etched across his tired looking face, the full moon was to be the next day.

'I just...I can't get it out my head Remy.' He sighed.

'What?'

'The lies! I can't stand hiding things from James, its eating away at me.' He groaned and felt instantly better when Remus climbed onto the bed and sat next to him with open arms, allowing Sirius to cuddle in.

'I don't know what to say Siri, if you want to tell him then...I won't stop you. I know how much it's getting to you, but...'

'I know...we don't know how he'll react. I mean, James is a decent enough guy but...well, all I can think about is that if things don't go well then I'm gonna lose the first person I ever felt happy around.' He said sadly and closing his eyes, Sirius let himself be lost in Remus' scent, inhaling deeply.

'I can't predict how he'll act Sirius, but I can tell you that if things don't go well then...I'll still be here.' Remus said it in a weak voice, clearly unsure whether his comment would actually make Sirius feel better and that worried Sirius slightly. Of course having Remus made him feel better!

'Thanks Remy, I just...I don't wanna lose my best friend,' Sirius added feeling kind of whiny. After all, Sirius wasn't the only one of them that would lose the messy haired boy's friendship if things didn't go well.

'Well, if you decide to tell him then...I'll be there with you, by your side a hundred percent.' He didn't reply, choosing to simply nod against the boy's chest. Perfectly happy to let Remus stroke his hair absentmindedly.

'Sirius,' he began awkwardly. 'Where were you earlier, with James.' Sirius gave a small sigh, knowing that he couldn't lie to Remus.

'We...We were winding up Snape and Evans.' He admitted, feeling ashamed under Remus' gaze.

'I thought as much,' Remus said, his face expressionless.

'I'm sorry, Remy.'

'No Sirius, if you were really sorry then you would have stopped doing it by now.' He said sadly.

'I can't! It's not that easy,' Sirius complained.

'Not that easy to stop bullying someone.' Remus said in a strict tone. 'I hate it Sirius, hate having to watch as someone is belittled and humiliated in front of a crowd of onlookers, as if it's a form of entertainment!'

'Remy I-'

'-Don't Siri, don't make excuses.' And he made to get up, but Sirius reached out, grabbing the boy's wrists desperately.

'Please Remy, don't walk away.' And he instantly felt there was more than one meaning behind his words. He was terrified, not just of the Remus walking away now in anger and disappointment, but of the chance that Remus might walk away from them for good if things didn't change.

Remus looked down at him, eyes full of hurt and confusion before returning to his position on the bed.

'I'm not going anywhere, Sirius. I wouldn't ever leave you.' He said quietly, pulling Sirius into his arms once more. Remus' words had made him feel slightly better but for some reason Sirius felt extremely on edge. He had just realised how terrified he was of losing Remus...not only that, he had just realised something he hadn't expected at all. He, Sirius Black, had fallen completely in love with Remus Lupin.

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**I'm extremely happy with the amount of reviews I've been getting in the last few chapters and I'm really thankful for them and to everyone who makes the effort to review!**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Siredna**

**Kombinant**

**EdwardLovesMe**

**Wabb 1t**

**Neko Ninja Hezza**

**Black_wind**

**Phoebe140**

**SweetoothMegs**

**I'd also like to say thank you to:**

**Delia**

**Although you didn't review the latest chapter you still reviewed since my last update so... don't know, but thank you very much for your review anyway! It's a shame you don't have an account as I like to reply to reviews but thank you all the same!**

**The last part goes to all my reviewers without accounts, it's a pity that I don't get the chance to reply to you!**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	44. Chapter 44 Marauders and Bullying

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'So...we have Prongs and Wormtail,' James said, scribbling the names down on a spare piece of parchment. He was currently spread across the floor in a ridiculous fashion, random food and pieces of parchment – mostly half done essay's- scattered around him.

'Right,' Sirius nodded, he too – along with Remus and Peter- was spread out on the ground, all of them using their pillows as an attempt to retain some form of comfort.

'What about you and Remus?' he sighed loudly.

'I thought we'd already agreed on Remus' nickname.' Sirius reminded him.

'Why wasn't I informed of this?' Remus inquired.

'In case you said no.' Sirius told him truthfully.

'That doesn't allow for much optimism, you know.' The scarred boy smiled.

'We decided to call you Moony, considering the whole full moon, Werewolfie thing.' James grinned and Remus shook his head in exasperation.

'Why am I not surprised?' He chuckled.

'Because Moony, you have known us for far too long to be surprised by anything we could come up with.' James told him flippantly. Remus gave a small smile at the use of his new nickname and Sirius could tell that Remus secretly liked it.

'What about you then Sirius?' Remus asked happily.

'Dunno, it's up to you guys really.' He shrugged.

'I still think we should go with Fleas' James joked, receiving a smack over the head with Sirius' pillow.

'Any other ideas?' Sirius laughed, holding his pillow up threateningly. The boy's all laughed, understanding that in order to remain un-hit they would have to refrain from any joke names.

'Cuddles?' Pete suggested, immediately realising that it had been a silly suggestion. 'I just mean cus you're sort of, _really_ affectionate as a dog.' Sirius shook his head to show he didn't like the name in the slightest but refrained from hitting his chubby friend.

'Snuffles?' James grinned.

'Snuffles?' Sirius asked feeling bewildered.

'Yeah, cus your nose is all cold and snuffly, like you have a cold.'

'I hope you're talking about my dog form.' Sirius laughed and James soon joined in.

'Pads?' Remus suggested. 'After all, padding around the room in dog form seems to be a new habit of yours.'

'It's a bit short though,' Pete added, causing Remus to look slightly saddened. James seemed to have noticed this and quickly added;

'How about...Padfoot? It's nearly the same, just a little bit longer.' This seemed to have made Remus feel slightly better about his suggestion and Sirius gave James a grateful smile. James had proved that regardless to how he had been acting towards certain students, there was still a genuinely nice guy in there somewhere.

'What do you think Siri?' Remus asked.

'I like it.' He smiled back and the James gave a _woop_ at having completed their naming session. Raising a small cup of pumpkin juice in the air he grinned and said loudly;

'To Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. The greatest Marauders this school has ever seen.' The others grinned in return and each raised their own cup, feeling like they had when the Marauders had first begun.

James quickly pulled a fresh sheet of parchment towards him and had instructed his fellow Marauders to write on it with him. It said the following:

_The Marauders: __Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers!__  
_

_I, Remus "Moony" Lupin, do solemnly swear that I am up to no good._

_I, Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew, do solemnly swear that I am up to no good._

_I, Sirius "Padfoot" Black, do solemnly swear that I am up to no good._

_I, James "Prongs" Potter, do solemnly swear that I am up to no good._

'I am going to keep this, as a permanent reminder of our never-ending commitment to causing mischief.' James grinned happily and headed to place the item in his trunk.

The next few months had been very interesting, although tiring, for the marauders. They had completed the Marauders Map – with an additional feature of insulting anyone who tried to open it, and changing the words to open the map to: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."- Continuing to join Remus on the full moons and studying for their O.W.L. Examinations-which were to be held at the end of the school year.

Of course the stress of all this had only increased the stress within the group itself. Leading to an almost daily dosage of "Snape bullying" which seemed to have gotten worse as the year went on. They had even gone as far as to humiliate Snape publically beside the Lake, earning the hatred of Lily Evans and the incredible disappointment of Remus Lupin, although he hadn't actually _stated _his unhappiness. This had been a few hours previous and immediately afterwards Remus had walked away, without explanation. He had deliberately not went after him, knowing it would only arouse James' suspicion but Sirius took his chance to go talk to Remus as soon as James had went to Quidditch practice, Peter along with him to watch, as usual.

'Remy, are you in here?' Sirius called as he walked into their dorm, he didn't receive any reply but Remus' curtains were drawn - showing that he was indeed there.

'Remy, look I know you hate situations like that...in all honesty I'm not so chuffed about it myself.'

'You didn't seem all the bothered to me.' Remus replied shortly, pulling back the curtains quickly. Sirius could see that Remus was _extremely _unhappy with him.

'I didn't realise it was going to turn out the way it did Remy, I thought it was just going to be a bit of harmless teasing like it usually is.'

'There's nothing _harmless _about it Sirius!' he replied, his voice containing a harshness that Sirius had never experienced before.

'The guy's a slimeball, Remus!' Sirius snapped defensively.

'So that makes it okay for you to become a bullying toerag?' Remus snapped back.

'Oh, so you've bought the _Lily Evans English dictionary, _have you?' Sirius sniped unhappily, having heard her describe James in a similar way.

'No, I'm describing exactly what you're becoming Sirius, you were never like this before!'

'I've always picked fights with Snape, you know that,' Sirius returned.

'Yes, but before it never amounted to anything more than a few words and the occasional prank. It's hardly the same as humiliating him without even being provoked!'

'Well I'm terribly sorry that we don't all live in a world where everybody acts like perfect bloody Remus copies.' Sirius shot angrily and immediately regretted it after seeing the look of Remus' face.

'I'm far from perfect Sirius,' Remus replied emotionlessly. 'And the fact that I'm just expected to stand by and say nothing, do nothing, even when you all know full well that it's my duty as a Prefect-'

'Oh come on Remus, nobody takes being a Prefect seriously anyway. It's not like you're the only Prefect that was there today, half the fucking school was watching.'

'So that makes it okay then? That means that it's fine for me to abandon my morals and let it slip?'

'It's not about morals, Remus.' He said defensively.

'I don't want to have this argument, Sirius.' He said sadly.

'Why? Because _you_ don't have a decent argument and you know it.' Sirius knew this was complete and utter rubbish but if Remus didn't believe he was sorry then he saw no reason why he should be.

'No, because it hurts Sirius, it hurts that you clearly don't care anymore. You don't care about right or wrong, you've deliberately set out to make someone's life hell!'

'It's not like that!' Sirius shouted in frustration.

'Don't shout at me Sirius.' Remus said weakly, looking genuinely upset.

'I didn't mean to,' Sirius rushed, lowering his voice. 'I just...I'm stressed out okay.'

'I don't understand Sirius, it's like one day it was all harmless pranks and then before I even realised it, the pranks had turned cruel and it became more about humiliating people instead of retaliating or defending people. When did things change?'

'I don't know what you expect me to say Remus...'

'I don' either, truthfully, it just annoys me that you've changed so much.'

'People change Remy,'

'Clearly,'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Nothing, I don't know...' Remus seemed tired and confused and Sirius felt terrified. He was frightened that Remus was going to call off their relationship but Remus seemed to have noticed the panic in Sirius' eyes and had moved forward, holding him at arm's length. 'I didn't mean it like that okay, I just...I worry about you. You're acting so different now and I don't like what you're becoming.'

'I'm not becoming anything Remus, I'm just-'

'-I know you just want to keep your friendship with James strong, but he's acting different as well...a best friend tells you off you when you do something stupid. They tell you the truth, even if it's not what you want to hear. If you want to be a proper best friend then you need to set him straight. Not just do as he wants out of guilt!'

'I can't Remy! I can't just stop doing it now, it's not that simple.'

'I know it's not simple, but you have to try Sirius! You're better than that.'

Sirius pulled his scarred friend into his arms tightly, never wanting to let go.

'I'm sorry Remy, I really, really am.' He whispered into Remus' neck.

'I know...look I'm sorry Siri but I need to go...' he told him, pulling out of Sirius' arms.

'Where?' Sirius asked feeling confused.

'Library, I told Lily I'd go over Ancient Runes with her.'

'Oh...okay.' Sirius replied, feeling slightly hurt that he being chucked for Lily Evans.

'Don't look at me like that; it's not for long...after that we can do whatever you want.'

'Not really, cus the others will be back by then.' He complained, gaining an eye roll from Remus.

'Why don't you go watch James' Quidditch practice then?'

'Nah, if I watch it once I'll get dragged along every time.' He laughed.

'I suppose, well I better get going...Lily's probably already down there.'

'You're meeting her there?' Sirius asked, Remus gave a nod in return and Sirius grinned.

'Well I've got nothing better to do anyway, so I'll walk you down.'

'If you really want to...' Remus shrugged, but he had a small smile on his face all the same.

'Course I do, I'll take a trip to Honeydukes while you're busy.' Sirius added. 'Anything you fancy in particular?'

'Surprise me,' Remus smiled. So he did.

He leant straight forward, capturing Remus' lips unexpectedly and Sirius was very happy to feel Remus kiss back, showing that Remus had indeed forgiven him for the earlier incident outside. But Sirius wasn't the only person full of surprises today. Remus snaked an arm quickly around Sirius' neck, pulling him closer still, before letting the other one travel beneath Sirius shirt-his hand trailing slowly up Sirius' back.

Sirius grinned against Remus' lips, letting his own hands travel but Remus was quick to pull away, looking rather flushed.

'I can't Siri, I need to go...'

'Do you really though?' he whined, pulling him closer once more and leaning teasingly close.

'Y-Yes S-Sirius, I-I P-Promised.' He replied weakly, apparently quite tempted to stay.

'If you must...' Sirius said loosely, untangling himself from Remus and lying down on his bed. 'I might just stay here and wait for you to get back.' He added, grinning from ear to ear.

'Sirius, you are a very _cruel _person, you know that.' Remus sighed, looking incredibly frustrated.

'I know...if you stay here...I can show you just how _cruel _I can be.' He smirked, causing Remus to flush even more.

'I'm going, before I let you talk me into staying.' Remus said with a shake of the head.

'Fine, I'll just have to amuse myself.' He huffed.

'So you're not walking me now?' Remus laughed. Sirius had completely forgotten his offer already but after being reminded grinned wildly.

'You sure you trust me not to pull you into an empty classroom, Remy?'

'Yes, because if we get caught you'll be in a_ lot _of trouble and I doubt it would take long for the rumours to spread.'

'I suppose,' he replied, sighing dramatically.

'We could always go to the fourth floor.' He said suggestively, remembering the first time he had been up close to Remus. Remus' eyes lit up, in clear recognition of what Sirius was talking about and chuckled.

'I don't think I fancy a snogging session in such a confined space.'

'Why not? Makes it easier for me to stop you running off.' Sirius smirked but Remus continued to roll his eyes at him once before heading for the door and holding it open.

'You coming for a walk or not?' he joked.

'You're not suggesting I transform in front of people.' Sirius joked back in mock outrage.

'Oh come on Sirius, I know you're trying to keep me here as long as you can but it's either walk me now or not at all because _I'm_ going now.' He said firmly and Sirius pulled a huffy face after having his plan foiled.

'Okay, Okay I'll walk down.' He gave in, joining Remus and descending the stairs.

However, Sirius very quickly regretted doing so. Sirius had walked Remus all the way to the library – the problem being that Lily Evans was waiting _outside_ it for him.

'You know, I really struggle to understand why you put up with these clowns,' Lily said haughtily.

'You can't really talk their Petal...you hang about with Snape.' Sirius shot.

'Well not anymore I'm not. Not after what he called me.' She said stubbornly. Sirius was sure, from looking at her slightly red eyes, that she had been crying. So he figured he wouldn't be too harsh on her at that moment.

'I'm not surprised; it was pretty low...even for him.'

'And what you lot do isn't?' she snapped defensively.

'Woah, I'm on your side, Petal.' He replied.

'I don't need you to be on my side, Black.' She replied shortly.

'Fine, I'm not your biggest fan either, Petal.' He told her in irritation before turning towards Remus.

'I'll see you later Remy.'

'Okay, don't get caught!' Remus warned him, and that was when Sirius realised that he hadn't brought the cloak or the map, cursing himself for being so distracted by Remus before leaving the dorms.

**Hey, just for anyone who is confused in any way, chapter 44 went up and the disappeared yesterday due to the fact that I had accidently uploaded Chapter 43 twice, because I'd double clicked when my computer was going slow **

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**I'm extremely happy with the amount of reviews I've been getting in the last few chapters and I'm really thankful for them and to everyone who makes the effort to review!**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**GiggleNo9**

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**Phoebe140**

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**ClatuVrata**

**Siredna**

**Delia**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	45. Chapter 45 Escaping For Good

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Padfoot!' James complained loudly, waving his hand in front of his friend's face to get his attention.

'Sorry...' he said quietly, not really feeling in the mood for pretending to be interested in...what was it James was talking about? Quidditch, Evans, Snape? Most likely it was one of the three, either that or some _fantastic_ prank of some sort.

'You okay mate?' James asked, concern shining in his hazel eyes.

'Fine,' he lied, feeling slightly sick and turning to look out the train window.

'It won't be long, and you'll be back at Hogwarts before you know it.' Pete piped up, trying to cheer up his friend. Sirius gave the chubby boy a small, grateful smile but he didn't really mean it. He couldn't shake off the feeling that this summer was going to be worse than any of the previous years. He _knew _that he wouldn't manage to stay on their good side, he had gotten too used to throwing his weight around at Hogwarts and making cheeky remarks that he didn't think he'd be able to stop fully. At some point he was bound to slip up.

I could try and get my dad to get you if you want.' James suggested half-heatedly and Sirius understood why. It wasn't that James didn't want to help or thought his father wouldn't, it was simply the fact that Sirius' family were highly dangerous and knew a lot of dodgy people. With the way things had been turning lately everyone was trying to not get on anyone's bad side. This he-who-must-not-named guy was spreading fear across the nation, terrifying people into dark arts and betrayal. He didn't expect James' family to mess around with dark people for him, didn't want them to either.

'Its fine Prongs, like Wormtail said it'll be over before I know it.' But he could feel Remus' doubting eyes on him and knew what he was thinking; he was wondering whether it was worth bringing up Greyback, like he had the previous year. In fact, Sirius was willing to bet that the only reason Remus _hadn't_ mentioned it was because he was worried it might bring up their old argument.

'I really wish there was something we could do Pads,' James said sadly looking quite frustrated, it was against James' nature to sit by while his friend was in possible danger.

'It's okay, sure there's more stuff going on now...but my family have always had dark people over...it's really not a big deal.' Sirius shrugged.

'If you say so mate,' James sighed before flipping an arm around his shoulder.

'Trust me; it's not a big deal.'

'Onto a slightly less depressing topic...' James joked and the others all smiled feeling incredibly grateful for the distraction from such a discussion.

'So, any new ideas for wooing Lily next year?' Remus asked the messy haired boy who grinned enthusiastically and nodded his head in rather crazy looking fashion.

'I have a five step plan to woo one Lily Evans.' he told them all.

'Do tell,' Sirius smirked.

'Step one – make sure to compliment her whenever she looks her worst.'

'Mate, she'll think you're taking the piss out of her.' Sirius laughed.

'Step two' James continued huffily. 'I am going to make sure that I am around whenever she needs a shoulder to cry on.

'Nine times out of ten if she's upset it's _because _of you.' Sirius added with a smirk, this was quite a fun way to annoy his best friend.

'Step three – Use our mutual friend, Remus, to help us interact more often.'

'He already spends enough with her as it is Prongs don't go encouraging him to spend more time with her!' Sirius huffed loudly.

'Step four – find a beautiful and irresistible way to ask her on a date'

'Like all your other ones? Cus really Prongs, it's not going all that well.' He grinned in amusement, watching as James grew steadily more annoyed and red-faced.

'Step Five – the final step – Take her to Hogsmeade and spoil her rotten.'

'I don't think she's that impressed by money James.' Remus told him seriously.

'Owell, looks like you're fucked mate.' Sirius smirked and was quickly hit over the head – slightly harder than usual – by James Potter.

There was a small knock on the compartment door and Peter quickly got up to open it, revealing a familiar red head who looked unhappy about whatever she was away to say.

'Lily! How lovely to see you, you know you really do look stunning today, like-'

'-Oh, so it today one of those days where she looks her worst?' Sirius said, pretending to be genuinely asking the question and not realising what he had said.

'Shut it, Fleas!' James said unhappily, looking incredibly frustrated.

'Why Jamsie...what did I say?' he teased back, causing James to redden further.

'-What is it that you wanted Lily?' Remus asked politely, cutting over the squabbling boys.

'I...I was wondering if I could come sit with you for a bit, I mean...I usually...' she left it hanging and everyone knew what she meant, she usually sat with Snape. But seeing as they were no longer friends she had no one to sit with.

'Say no more Lily, none of mind, do we?' he said, looking around the compartment at his friends, all of whom nodded but one.

'Course not,' Sirius replied sarcastically, earning a disapproving look from Remus which only annoyed him further. He didn't _want _Lily around at all, James would spend the whole journey trying to gain her attention and affection – neither of which he was likely to get – and Remus would make it up to her by spending the whole journey discussing something that Sirius wouldn't possibly be able to, or want to, discuss with them.

He had quickly been proven right, James seemed unable to hold an actual conversation, Remus was practically ignoring him and even Pete wasn't talking, due to the fact that he rarely talked much around people he didn't know well.

He was incredibly bored and had wanted to dance in happiness when the food trolley appeared and he had been able to buy a large amount of chocolate. Making sure to pass a few bars towards Remus, who smiled thankfully but had returned to his conversation with Lily, only irritating Sirius more than he already was.

He spent most of his journey in silence and quite evilly biting the heads off of his Chocolate Frogs unhappily. The small comfort that he had was that he had became rather fond of chocolate in the past year, due to the fact that he often associated chocolate with Remus who seemed to taste of chocolate fairly often when they kissed.

When the train finally pulled up at Platform 9 and ¾ Sirius was even more depressed than normal. He had dragged his trunk off the train angrily and waited impatiently to say his goodbyes.

'Hope you get away soon mate,' James said sadly, pulling him into a brotherly hug.

'Yeah, same goes for me.' Pete added and Sirius flung an arm around the chubby boy, smiling slightly at how pleased Peter seemed with the affection.

'Be careful Sirius,' Remus said softly, eyes containing an almost ridiculous amount of worry and concern. Sirius nodded in return, he still felt incredibly irked by the fact that Remus had spent most of his journey talking to Lily. The worst part was that Sirius knew he should be incredibly grateful for every second he had with them right now but seemed to be unable to ignore his earlier irritation.

'I've got to get going,' Sirius said lamely. 'They'll be waiting on me.' He nodded towards Kreacher and Regulus who were practically glaring towards them. His friends all seemed quite surprised by his sudden need to leave, without saying a proper goodbye.

'Sirius-' Remus began worriedly.

'I gotta go' he repeated, beginning to walk away.

'Sirius surely you don't plan on leaving without even talking first.' Remus said looking even more worried as he went on.

'We had plenty of time to talk Remus, on the train, but we didn't.' He said shortly and turned away from the group. 'I'll see you, September first.'

And with that Sirius walked away, unable to look back at his friends and not seeing the incredibly hurt look on Remus' face as he did so.

As usual he arrived at Number 12 feeling incredibly depressed by his surroundings and headed upstairs to put away his things, feeling a small smile come to his face at the sight of his motorbike poster and Gryffindor banners.

'What was with the short goodbyes?' Regulus smirked from the doorway. Sirius had known he was there already, having developed heightened senses due to his regular transformations as an animagus.

'What's it to you, Reg?' he said in a bored tone.

'Don't call me that!' Regulus snapped suddenly, surprising Sirius.

'Why not, Reg?' he couldn't help himself, using the name again automatically without thinking. He was simply too used to winding up his friends in a similar manner.

'Because Sirius,' he replied coldly. 'We are _not _friends, never have been and never will be. So you need to get that into your treacherous head.

'Treacherous? What the hell have I ever done, Reg? I'm terribly sorry if having some form of morals is classed as a betrayal.' He said, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he went on and Regulus was now glaring at him.

'I told you _not _to call me that!' Regulus said threateningly, pulling out his wand unexpectedly.

'What you gonna do, Reg? Curse me? Go for it.'

'I know curses that would make your skin crawl with disgust.' Regulus warned.

'Personally, I think your way of thinking that dark arts are perfectly normal in enough to make my skin crawl with disgust.' Sirius retorted haughtily.

'You are so unbelievable, don't you realise what's happening? Things are changing Sirius, and you'll want to change to our side before the end.'

'I'd rather die with my dignity than live as some sort of sick freak.' Sirius snapped.

'Yeah well you might well die with dignity and protecting people you _care _about. But at the end of the day, you are going to die if you choose the other side.'

'I'd prefer to die than be on _your _side.' He said shortly and it was then that he saw her, standing at the top of the stairs. Her eyes cold, distant and with a look of disgust evident on her face. It was his mother.

'Downstairs now,' she said in a low calm voice, but her voice had a sharp edge to it and Sirius quickly did as he was told, fearing what was to come. She walked him all the way to his father's study and even went in with him.

'Yes, Walburga?' Orion's voice drawled slowly.

'Well, repeat what you said upstairs.' She said coldly to Sirius and he felt himself start to feel panicked.

'I...I...'

'Now!' She shrieked loudly and he did...

Two weeks of the holidays had past now, and life was hard for Sirius. They had stopped inviting him down for meals, having Kreacher bring up ridiculously small portions for him once in the morning and once at night. He had taken to staying in his room and remaining as quiet as possible, but it didn't help much. Regulus had made it a habit of his to appear at random and bait him into arguments, especially if he thought either of their parents were near enough to hear.

Things had got _really _bad now. They had taken his wand from him, knowing he wouldn't want to leave without it. After all, he had no money left and they weren't likely to give him any. He couldn't exactly buy his own off of imaginary money.

Looking in the mirror he winced slightly at the sight of himself, his face and body was covered in cuts and bruises. He was still feeling the pain from the last curse that his mother had inflicted on him. But his father, his father was much worse. The spells his father could think of were horrifyingly painful and in all honesty he was surprised that he hadn't yet been subjected to an Unforgivable curse. Sirius had been in so much pain that he had wanted nothing more than curl up in a ball and cry in his room.

But he wouldn't. Not now, he couldn't bare the idea of it, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction. He was Sirius Black, and Sirius Black _never _cried.

As he sat on his bed he felt an incredible amount of loneliness. He had even taken to sleeping without his cover on, pushing it to the side of him and turning away from it, trying to imagine it as being Remus lying next to him. But it didn't work, regardless of how many times he tried it and it only increased his feeling of being alone. He wished desperately that he was back in his dorm, curled up safe in Remus' arms. But he wasn't, he was in Number 12 and there was nothing he could to change it, nothing that could-

-His thoughts were interrupted suddenly, as he noticed a foul smell in the air. _He _was here, Fenrir Greyback. Sirius felt his stomach seize up uncomfortably and all that he could think to himself was that he needed to leave. He wouldn't be able to lie to Remus and say thank Greyback had made no appearance throughout the summer.

But how could he leave? They wouldn't give him his wand, that and he couldn't just appear at the Potter's house without asking or being asked yet...could he? But he couldn't stay here, he _wouldn't _stay here. He could just imagine how much Remus would freak out if he knew that Sirius was currently wandless and in the same house as Greyback.

Getting up he quickly began shoving the few things he had removed from his suitcase back in and took his most prized possessions out of the drawer and looked at them carefully, would he leave them in the drawer where they would be safe or risk them in order to take them with him?

Deciding for the latter he quickly put most of the contents into the inside pocket of his coat. He then looked at his book from Remus sadly; it was too big to put in his coat and he was beginning to think twice about taking his trunk. There was no way he would get away if he was dragging that thing about. He had a feeling that they wouldn't allow him back after this.

Deciding there was nothing else he could do with it he pushed the book halfway into the back of his trousers as to hide it from view if he got caught and took a deep breath before leaving his room.

Creeping slowly along the corridor he felt his heart rate speed up intensely. He had never wished more that he had James' Invisibility cloak than at that exact moment. He continued along the corridor as quietly as he could manage heading in the direction of his fireplace.

'Well, well, well.' A raspy voice called from behind him. 'Where are you sneaking off to, and all on your own?' Sirius felt himself freeze at the Lycanthrope's voice. Why was he here anyway? There was no point in being here when he would have to leave the same day – after all today was the full moon, Sirius knew that.

'I'm not sneaking off anywhere,' he said loudly, hoping his voice would draw his parent's attention. Punishment from them was far more preferable than being alone with _this _psycho.

'You certainly seemed sneaky to me...I hope you're not up anything you shouldn't be.' He smirked cruelly, and Sirius felt disgusted by the overpowering smell that accompanied the Werewolf. That was just from standing fairly close to the guy, Sirius didn't want to think how disgusting he must smell if he was close enough to bite. Like he had been to Remus...immediately he felt his blood begin to boil and closed his eyes momentarily, attempting to retain control over himself. Then he heard footsteps.

'I hope you aren't disrupting our guest, Sirius,' his father said coldly as he walked towards them.

'I saw him sneaking about and thought I'd check up on him.' Greyback drawled, a smirk playing on his evil face.

'Sneaking? I see... so you did disrupt our guest then.' Orion said harshly and Sirius wondered what was going to be his punishment this time. He couldn't do this, he _had _to leave. No matter what he had to go through in order to do so.

'I didn't disrupt him; he was just being a nosy git.' Sirius said, sounding far more confident than he felt. He _had _to push his father in order to be able to leave.

'How dare you!' His father shouted, half shocked by Sirius' words and half terrified of what Greyback would do.

'He's a fucking psychopath, and I hope you both burn in hell.' Sirius said, thinking one of two things would happen. He would anger his father enough to punish him severely before leaving, or his father would be angry enough to leave him for Greyback.

Luckily his father turned extremely red with anger and grabbed hold of him pulling him away from the Werewolf and towards the nearest room.

'I will punish him for his insolence, you can be sure of that!' Orion informed the Werewolf, who smirked cruelly in amusement.

He was dragged into the nearest room and Sirius had known what was coming, simply from the uncontrollable rage that was evident in his father's eyes. The very last word that he ever heard his father utter was a curse, an unforgivable. "Crucio,"

Sirius had been punished not just once, but five times with the Cruciatus Curse. When his father finally left him alone Sirius was in so much agony that he could barely move, even breathing was incredibly painful at that moment. But he had been brave, sure he had shouted – even screamed in pain. But he hadn't given his father the satisfaction of seeing him cry, because he was Sirius Black and Sirius Black _never _cried.

Finally summoning enough strength to move he headed towards the nearest fireplace, a few rooms down from where he currently was.

He barely managed to stand upright as he held the Floo Powder shakily in his hands.

'Potter Household, Godric's Hollow'

But Sirius barely got a glimpse of the Potters' dimly lit sitting room before collapsing with a rather loud _thud._

**My longest chapter so far! **

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Neko Ninja Hezza**

**Wabb 1t**

**GiggleNo9**

**Delia**

**And whoever the anonymous reviewer without a name is :P**

**I also want to say a thank you to –**

**witch-for-ordinary**

**even thought it wasn't the latest chapter you reviewed it was still since my last update **

**Also, as a reply to Delia: I haven't actually read any of those books...but I'll give one a try when I have some spare time!**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	46. Chapter 46 Arriving at the Potters

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

There was a loud _thud_ downstairs, echoing throughout the silent household. Launching himself out of his room where he was currently sitting, James Potter hurried downstairs, wand in hand, to find the cause of the noise. He could hear his parents not far behind him-they were coming from the kitchen, but James had beat them due to his naturally speedy running-as he ran into the sitting room, stopping short at the sight of his best friend, unconscious on the floor.

'Mum! Dad' James voice called clearly, sounding panic-stricken and upset. There were two sets of feet thudding loudly as they ran straight into the sitting room.

'What on earth-' But Mr Potter didn't finish his sentence haven just noticed the young man currently lying unconscious on his sitting room floor. 'What happened!' he asked quickly, rushing to the young man's side.

'Is he breathing?' Mrs Potter asked, he voice high pitched and frightened.

'He's breathing, but he's certainly not in a fit state.' Mr Potter said worriedly.

'James go help your father move him to the chair.' Mrs Potter said quickly but James didn't budge. He was sat a few feet away from Sirius, his eyes wide and terrified.

'Oh James!' Mrs Potter said suddenly realising her son's distress and wrapping her arms around him. But as soon as she touched him James seemed to snap back to reality and pulled away, rushing forward to help life his friend.

'Sirius.' Mr Potter said clearly and loudly, gently shaking him in an attempt to awaken him.

'Come on Siri!' James pleaded desperately.

'James,' Sirius muttered weakly, his eyes opening a fraction.

'Oh thank Merlin Siri!' James said, relief flooding through his pale face, as he threw himself forward in an attempt hug his best friend.

Sirius let out an incredibly loud, painful scream as soon as James connected with him, causing James to throw himself backwards in surprise.

'Oh Merlin! I'm _so _sorry Siri, I didn't realise-'

'-Sirius, what happened to you?' James father cut in in a low, unreadable tone. Sirius looked up at them all feeling incredibly exhausted and painful, barely able to move let alone speak. He mouthed soundlessly before feeling himself falling back into his state of unconsciousness.

'Oh no Sirius! You have to stay awake, okay?' Mr Potter said loudly, reaching out and giving the boy a small shake. Sirius let out another shout of pain and also flinched away from the man.

'I'm sorry Sirius, but you have to stay awake for now, okay?' he said slowly and Sirius did his best to nod his head in agreement. 'Okay, James you keep an eye on him. I need to talk to your mother. Don't let him go to sleep yet.' James gave a shaky nod and turned back towards Sirius.

At that moment Sirius could barely register his surroundings, remembering little of what had happened other than that it had been incredibly painful. His body was aching far beyond anything he could possibly have imagined and he wished nothing more than to sleep and not feel any more pain.

'Siri, what happened to you?' James whispered sadly and Sirius swallowed painfully, trying to manage speaking.

'Dont-wanna-talk-about-it' Sirius gasped painfully.

'You don't want to talk about it? I just found you lying on my sitting room floor, covered in all sorts of marks, half-starved and unconscious. I want an answer!' James said firmly and Sirius wished he had enough energy to smack his friend over the head. James could be quite annoying when he got all defensive over his friends.

'I-don't-need-to-explain-myself-to-you.' Sirius managed, although with a lot of pain and he saw Mr and Mrs Potter re-enter the room.

'EITHER YOU TELL ME WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED OR IM GOING TO YOUR FUCKING HOUSE FOR AN ANSWER!' James shouted passionately and Sirius felt his heart rate speed up immediately in horror.

'NO! DONT YOU FUCKING DARE' he shouted loudly, regretting it immediately as pain shot through his body. 'Please-don't-James.'

'Give him time James.' Mrs Potter said softly, her eyes reddened with tears as she looked upon the young man that she regarded as her second son.

'I-I' But James seemed unable to continue and looked down, clearly embarrassed by his emotions. Watching his friend closely Sirius felt horrible, leaving James to suffer by letting his imagination run wild.

'T-things got bad when I went back _there_.' Sirius told him carefully, trying his best to ignore the pain as he spoke. 'I got in trouble straight away, got caught saying things to Regulus...things they didn't approve of me saying.' He closed his eyes momentarily before opening them once more, the pain was agonising but he knew he had to tell them.

All three Potters nodded to show they were ready for him to carry on and Sirius drew in a shaky breath before continuing.

'I...I wasn't allowed near them after that, they stopped me from eating with them – making the house elf bring my food, not that I was given much anyway. Reg kept being a prat, deliberately getting me in trouble whenever he could - he always was a sneaky little brat. So they punished me.'

'Why didn't you leave sooner?' Mrs Potter asked, tears now running down her face as she sat next to her husband who was shaking, quite clearly, with rage.

'I c-couldn't. They took my wand; I didn't want to leave without it. But then, then _he _arrived.' He said darkly, catching James' eye to make sure he knew who Sirius had meant. James' parents were clearly worried by whoever this person might be but remained quiet in order to hear the rest of Sirius' words.

'Tonight?' James asked and Sirius nodded in return to his friend's question.

'Yeah, he came tonight and I knew I had to get out of there. So I grabbed a few items and decided to leave, but then _he _saw me, tried to get me alone...' he trailed off awkwardly and he could see fear flashing in his friend's hazel eyes.

'Oh Merlin, he didn't hurt you...did he?'

'No, but I think he would have if my father hadn't arrived. I knew I had to leave, and that the only way I'd be left alone was if I made him angry, really angry...enough to punish me badly. I...I made him _really _mad, madder than I've ever seen him before and he dragged me off and...and...'

'Yeah...' James said carefully, trying to encourage him to finish his sentence.

'He used the Cruciatus curse on me.' Sirius whispered, feeling his heart rate speed up as he remembered the pain the curse had inflicted upon him.

'The Cruciatus curse?' James' mother gasped, as if unsure whether she had heard him correctly.

'Yeah, five times.' He added awkwardly.

'MONSTERS; THE WHOLE BLOODY LOT OF THEM!' James' dad roared angrily and Mrs Potter reached forward, as if to embrace Sirius but he flinched away from her touch and she retracted her hand looking worried by his actions. He didn't want to be touched by anyone, didn't want anyone near enough to hurt him. It wasn't as if the Potters were going to hurt him but he still felt he couldn't allow them too close, not wanting anyone's physical touch and feeling as if he had reverted back to earlier ways, when he had been younger and had shied away from any form of physical contact.

James was looking determinedly at anything but Sirius and Sirius felt sick. He wondered what was going through James' head at that moment, wishing he could somehow magically read his friend's mind.

'James...' he began weakly, his throat aching still. But he couldn't continue as James looked up at him, red-eyed and furious with a look of complete an utter loathing for Sirius' family splayed across his face. James now had tears falling down his face and Sirius had no idea what to do to make his friend feel better. He had never seen James like this before and it was incredibly hard to look at. Sirius looked away, unable to see his friend in such clear distress.

'I...I've got something I need to do...I'll be back in a few minutes.' James said quietly and Sirius felt worry run through him immediately, what was he doing?

'James' his father said unsurely.

'I'll only be a minute; I'll just be in the next room.' He said quickly and headed out leaving the room in an uneasy silence. They sat there for fifteen minutes before Mrs Potter began to look anxious.

'Go check on him.' Mrs Potter said to James' father suddenly. 'There's a Floo connection through there.' She said worriedly and Mr Potter moved quickly, doing as his wife had asked.

But they needn't have worried, James was already on his way back through at that moment and had came through the doors just before Mr Potter reached the doors. He was wearing a slightly guilty expression but seemed determined that he had done something necessary.

'What have you done?' Sirius asked immediately, feeling his friend's uneasiness.

'I...I contacted Remus.' He said, his voice slightly shaky but determined, clearly knowing Sirius was going to be _very _unhappy with his decision.

'You did what?' Sirius growled angrily.

'I Flooed Remus,' the bespectacled young man said with a determined calmness.

'WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT!' Sirius roared furiously, ignoring the complete and utter agony that doing so caused.

'He needs to know Sirius! You know he'd want to know!'

'That's not your call to make!'

'I had to Siri, I couldn't just leave him in the dark.'

'You shouldn't have said anything to him, I'm fine!' he snapped angrily.

'You're quite clearly not Sirius!' James snapped back defensively.

'Yeah well I hope you're fucking proud of yourself James, thanks to you, Remus is going to be worried sick! He doesn't need this right now...he's barely got a few hours before...' but he stopped short, paling instantly. He had nearly mentioned Remus' lycanthropy in front of James' parents and he felt immediately sickened by his own stupidity. James was now looking at him in shock, clearly as surprised by Sirius' near slip up as Sirius himself was.

'Look, I'm sorry...Okay? But I couldn't hide it from him Siri, you two are _really _close and he would have known something was up...he would have felt hurt if he hadn't been told.'

'And you couldn't have waited until the morning before doing it?' Sirius said icily.

'No Sirius, no I couldn't. If I'd waited until morning then _you _would have convinced me to leave it longer, probably not telling him at all. There's no point even _trying _to deny it!' James said firmly, looking Sirius right in the eye as he said each and every word. Sirius had to admit, James was quite probably right on that one. But he only wanted to protect Remus, he had suffered so much already that he didn't want to suffer any more on his behalf, didn't want to cause him any grief.

'You should take some potion you know...' James' mother told Sirius softly, looking between the two young men before her with a sad look in her eyes. 'I can have you on your way to healing quicker than you can say "Quidditch"' she smiled.

'No!' Sirius shouted suddenly, causing himself pain once more and gasping slightly. He didn't want healed, he _wanted _to feel the pain. He wanted to know that it had all really happened, that he wasn't just going insane, that it wasn't all just in his head.

'It really would help you,' Mr Potter added in kindly in a slightly firmer voice but Sirius shook his head determinedly.

'I'm fine, honest. I just...I need some sleep.' He said quietly, still feeling incredibly sore and wanting nothing more than to be left alone to stew in his own thoughts.

James parents gave in and gave him a small nod, informing James where the potion was in case Sirius changed his mind before heading out the room, worried evident of their tired faces.

'I'll go grab some pillows and blankets.' James informed him with a small smile.

'Yeah?' Sirius replied weakly and James gave a quick nod.

'Yeah, we can sleep down here tonight...I guess you don't really feel like moving.' He commented in an attempted light tone but failing miserably.

'Sure thing James'

So James headed off upstairs, but at a far slower pace that Sirius had ever seen him go anywhere other than the Potions Dungeons in Hogwarts – and James despised that place. But he supposed James was probably just trying to get his head around everything he had been told. Finally re-appearing a good ten or fifteen minutes later; throwing a large blue blanket over Sirius and offering him a pillow. Sirius accepted the pillow but had regretted it instantly when he had moved to place his pillow beneath his head only to find pain shooting through his body once more.

'You okay?' James asked weakly and Sirius had to admit that it was quite strange to see James so concerned; after all, he had spent the better part of the last year tormenting their fellow students and acting pretty much emotionless.

'Yeah, I'm just a bit sore.' He said sadly before pulling the blanket slightly higher up over his chest, clutching it close to him in an attempt to gain some form of comfort from it.

'I'm glad you came here Siri, I don't want to imagine what would have happened if you'd stayed in that place.' James said palely.

'I'm just glad I had somewhere to go, I probably should have asked first but-'

'-don't be silly Siri!' James cut over him. 'You're always welcome here...you're the closest thing I've ever had to a brother...' James trailed off awkwardly, unused to sharing his emotions with anyone and Sirius gave him a sad smile before saying quite darkly.

'Trust me James; brothers aren't all they're cracked up to be.' And Sirius was incredibly glad when James let the comment drop without question, allowing him to fall into a troubled sleep.

**Hey, can anyone who hasn't voted yet please vote on my poll? I want to find out whether or not people would be interested in reading this story through Remus' point of view...so you'd get to see other parts that aren't in this story.**

**Once again, I want to say big thanks to everyone reviewing! I'm really chuffed with how many reviews I've been getting lately and I just wanted to say an extra thank you for all your support throughout this story so far!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**witch-for-ordinary**

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	47. Chapter 47 The Small Comforts In Life

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius Black awoke the next morning, refusing to open his eyes in a pathetic attempt to fall back into his painless sleep. He was still in a considerable amount of pain, and he swore he was aching more than he had the night before. He groaned loudly as he remembered the cause of his pain; the cruciatus curse.

'Oh Siri,' a familiar voice whispered sadly. The voice was laced with such emotion that it was genuinely shocking, and Sirius' eyes flew open in surprise.

'Remus!' he tried to shout, but his throat didn't seem willing to let him and his voice came out rather quiet and painful.

'Ssh, don't talk if it hurts.' Remus hushed him, reaching forward to touch his face but Sirius flinched and Remus retracted his hand in shock. His eyes full of emotion as he looked down upon him.

'I-I didn't mean it...' Sirius whispered frantically not wanting to hurt Remus' feelings. But Remus continued to look incredibly saddened by Sirius' reaction, shifting closer to him but making sure not to touch him.

'It's okay, I understand.' He replied quietly.

'Sorry,' he whispered again feeling horrible.

'James has gone out flying to clear his head.' Remus informed him softly. 'He seems quite upset Siri, he uh...he told me what happened...well what he knows anyway.'

'What happened to you?' Sirius asked suddenly, noticing a new scar across Remus' face and reaching upwards, his hand hovering over the scar but not actually touching it.

'Rough transformation,' Remus admitted weakly. 'I don't think the wolf side of me wasn't very happy to be alone this full moon. I suppose it's too used to having company now, that and...Well, I was rather stressed beforehand.' Sirius immediately felt guilty, his being hurt had stressed out Remus and now he had a new scar to show for it. That was when he suddenly realised something.

'Why are you even here? You shouldn't have travelled so far after the full moon, shouldn't be travelling at all really considering you had to be alone last night.' Sirius said caringly, knowing how much more pain Remus must have been in when he awoke.

'I travelled because I _had _to Sirius. I couldn't stay away; I needed to see you with my own eyes.' The light haired young man replied, but the exhaustion was evident in his eyes as he spoke.

'Still Remy-'

'-Sirius will you stop trying to distract me. If you won't remain quiet then you can tell me what happened...I want to know everything.' Remus whispered worriedly.

'Things just...got out of control. I...I pushed him to it Remy, I made him use that curse on me.' He whispered, remembering everything so much clearer now.

'You didn't _make _him do anything Sirius, you didn't deserve this!' Remus said passionately, and Sirius couldn't help smiling at Remus' rarely seen protective side.

'What I mean is that I deliberately pissed him off so he would do it.'

'Why on earth would you do such a thing?' Remus exclaimed in horror, and so Sirius explained everything from the start...finally going onto Greyback and Sirius' father before ending at James' house. Remus was ridiculously pale, even for him, and looked very much as if he wanted nothing more than to hold Sirius in his arms and keep him from harm.

'Remy,' he whispered quietly when Remus had made no comment.

'Yes?'

'It hurts really bad.' He admitted, feeling incredibly silly for saying so when Remus had just had a transformation the night before.

'Oh Siri...' the scarred young man said softly, and Sirius could hear the slight tremble in his voice.

'I missed you _so _much Remy,'

'I've missed you to Siri, more than I could hope to explain.' Remus replied with an expression of longing etched upon his scarred young face.

'Remy...' Remus gave a small murmur to show he was listening and Sirius looked up at him desperately. 'Can you...can you hold me?' Remus face showed a fair amount of surprise at the sheer honesty of Sirius' request.

'Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to hurt you.' Sirius nodded, forcing himself to sit upright and trying to ignore the pain as well as his instinct to avoid being touched.

He flinched automatically as soon as Remus reached out to him but understanding that Sirius really _did _want to be held he wrapped his arms around Sirius regardless and held on despite Sirius' initial unease and squirminess. It took a while but eventually Sirius stopped squirming and relaxed into Remus' embrace.

It was worth all the pain in the world to feel Remus' arms wrap around him comfortingly and Sirius felt as if he could finally relax, for the first time since he had left Hogwarts he felt truly safe from harm.

At that moment Mrs Potter entered the room, smiling softly and carrying a tray will tea, toast and an assortment of biscuits.

'I thought you boys might want something to eat,' she told them kindly. 'How are you feeling, dear?' she added to Sirius who gave her a small smile.

'A bit better,' he lied, pulling out of Remus' arms and she turned towards Remus immediately.

'Did James tell you that this silly young man didn't want me to heal him or give him any potions for the pain?' she tutted.

'No, I suppose he didn't want me telling Sirius off as soon as he woke up.' Remus said, looking at Sirius disapprovingly.

'I don't need a potion, I'll be fine once I walk around a bit and-'

'You'll be fine when you learn some common sense and take whatever potions Mrs Potter gives you.' Remus said firmly. 'If I have to force you to take them I will.'

'I'll go get the potion, and you two help yourself to whatever you want from the tray.' She said, smiling almost knowingly at the two boys before heading out the room once more.

Sirius couldn't believe how much he wanted to kiss Remus at that moment, to be completely lost in the young man sitting by his side. He knew that if he actually did kiss him that he would probably pull away instantly, freaking out from their contact but for some reason despite his fear of being in contact with him, he still wanted that kiss.

'Remy,' he whispered longingly, leaning forward towards the pale young man.

'Siri, No! Not here,' Remus said, looking around them in worry.

'I'm sorry I just...'

'I know, you have no idea how much I want to, but we can't...it's too risky.'

'Right now I really couldn't care less what anyone thinks.'

'Maybe not, but by this time tomorrow I'm fairly sure you will so don't do anything reckless.'

'So loving someone classes as reckless?' Sirius huffed before realising what he had said. Remus blushed slightly but that small shy smile that Remus hardly ever seemed to get these days made a rare appearance.

'Loving someone?' he smiled.

'Yeah,' Sirius whispered softly, 'I do Remy...I love you.'

'I love you to Siri,' Remus whispered back, and Sirius couldn't help but find Remus' small smile adorable. Sirius wasn't sure how long they sat there, simply staring at each other before they were interrupted.

'Hey,' James said quietly, walking through the doorway with him broom in hand and carelessly chucking it on the floor.

'Hey,' Sirius said back, wishing he could have had a little bit longer on his own with Remus.

'Mum says to give you this,' he said, holding out a small bottled potion. 'Apparently you're actually going to be taking it now,' he said looking quite surprised, 'and uh...to take two mouthfuls.'

'Yeah, Remus threatened to force me if I didn't choose to take them.' Sirius laughed, before suddenly erupting in a rather painful coughing fit due to his sore throat. Sirius felt himself blush slightly as Remus automatically reached out to him, but stopped himself at the last moment not wanting Sirius to flinch away from him.

'You are also under strict instructions to eat.' James told him with a grin.

'Don't think I have a problem with that.' Sirius grinned back weakly, not really meaning it...he wasn't feeling hungry at all, but he supposed his body had just become used to not eating much over the last few weeks.

'So do you feel like getting up yet? You'd probably be comfier in a real bed.' James said honestly. 'Dad's set up a room for you, he says you can stay as long as you want...and not just for this summer either. You're like...an honorary Potter now.' He laughed.

'Your dad's great James,' he smiled and James smiled back happily.

'I uh...I kinda got in touch with Pete...told him that you'd ran away and stuff.' He said timidly, clearly worried that Sirius would flip like he had about Remus.

'Whatever,' he replied dispassionately.

'I uh, I asked him if he wanted to come stay early...since everyone else is here...I mean obviously Remy will be gone for a bit but during the full moon but...you know.' He finished lamely.

'Sounds good, but I mean...how's that gonna work? If your mum gave me a room and stuff...'

'Oh, well I dunno we'll just swap about who sleeps where...I don't think my mum could handle the both of us sharing a room for like, ever...imagine the noise.' James laughed loudly.

'I suppose, well...Remy you can stay with me tonight then and Pete can stay with James' Sirius smiled and Remus smiled straight back in return before handing him a piece of toast pointedly.

'Eat.' Remus instructed caringly.

'I'm not really all that hungry-'

'-I'm pretty sure Remus will be happy to help me force feed you Sirius, you're looking scarily on the thin side.' James commented and Sirius rolled his eyes at the two boys and began nibbling away at the toast in a resigned manner.

'Well done, I'll have to buy you a medal now' James said with mock enthusiasm before giving a small laugh and adding; 'now all you need to do is take your potion,' Causing Sirius to screw up his face unhappily, making the two boys laugh openly.

'You two are evil, I swear.' He complained, which only caused the two of them to laugh louder.

'Right, you two go find something to do and let Sirius rest.' Mrs Potter called but Sirius shook his head firmly.

'Its fine, honestly, I'd prefer it if they stayed.' Sirius said and she gave a nod to indicate her permission.

'Well, why don't we get you upstairs then and you can test out your new bed.' James smiled and Sirius nodded, allowing them to help him up off of the chair. He felt the pain rush through him instantly and suddenly realised something; he had spent the entire night in so much pain that he hadn't even noticed the lump in the back of trousers digging into him.

Moving his hand to it he pulled the book out from his trousers and gave a small laugh at how ridiculous it all seemed.

'You got starved, beaten and tortured and you still managed to remember that bloody book.' James laughed, shaking his head at his friend.

'Yes I grabbed a few things but that didn't fit in my pocket.' He said, hand going automatically to his pocket, as if checking the other items were still there.

'Well come on then,' James smiled and he and Remus both tried to help Sirius up the stairs but Sirius had shrugged them off, not wanting any more physical contact than absolutely necessary.

When they entered Sirius' new room Sirius had been quite surprised. It was almost as big as James' own room-which was very big in his opinion-with a large poster bed and Sirius was instantly reminded of Hogwarts, which was quite comforting. He moved towards the bed slowly, opening the drawer on his bedside table and placing his book and few other belongings inside it.

'I gotta admit this is kind of weird.' Sirius chuckled as he pulled back the covers on his new bed. The two young men attempted to help Sirius into the bed and Sirius felt extremely unhappy about it. He felt like they were treating him like he was a sick child.

The bed itself was quite large and in Sirius' opinion extremely comfy. The covers were a neutral beige colour and Sirius found it quite surprising considering most of the other rooms in the house were warmly coloured.

'We can change the colour if you want, it's pretty boring.' James commented as he looked around the room.

Sirius shrugged, not really bothered at that moment about the colour of the room.

Remus and James both climbed up onto the bed, sitting beside him comfortingly but they had barely even sat down before James' mother called up the stairs;

'James, I need you to come with me to get more food from the shops. After all I _do _have an extra three mouths to feed,' Sirius felt slightly confused by this before remembering that Peter would also be joining them later that day.

James grumbled unhappily and turned to face the other two.

'You two okay on your own here?' he asked and the two young men gave a nod in confirmation before James headed out the room. 'I doubt we'll be too long, probably an hour or so.' He informed them before closing the door behind them.

'You know I'm surprised we're getting to share a room alone tonight.' Remus said unexpectedly, climbing beneath the covers of the large bed and making himself comfortable.

'Why?' Sirius asked feeling confused as he settled down next to his friend, making sure not to be too close in case they touched. It was incredibly frustrating to both want Remus' embrace but be frightened of his touch at the same time. He didn't want anybody's touch at that moment but he longed for Remus to hold him simply because he knew that it had always brought him such comfort.

'I don't know...it just seemed like James' mum could tell that we were...you know...'

'A pair of raging homosexuals?' Sirius suggested jokingly.

'It's not funny Sirius; I think she genuinely does know.'

'Even if she did, why would she care? We're hardly going to get knocked up.' Sirius laughed at his own joke, firstly it wasn't possible and secondly it wasn't as if they had actually gone that far yet physically anyway. It was certainly not going to be happening whilst at the Potters' house, he could barely stand people touching him at that moment let alone going that far.

'That's _not _the point Sirius,' Remus said, rolling his eyes at him.

'I know, I know.' He mumbled, moving closer to Remus instinctively and feeling strange for not snuggling up with him instantly.

'Sirius...'

'Yeah?'

'I'm glad you left that place, I don't want to imagine what could have happened.' Remus whispered, his voice sounding frightened. 'It was really brave of you to do it.'

'What can I say; I'm a Gryfffindor through and through.' He joked. Oh, how his parents would be horrified by his words, he thought amusedly.

'I am sorry you know, sorry I couldn't be here last night.' Remus said sadly.

'You couldn't exactly help it Remy,' Sirius replied, remembering the full moon once more and realising that at that moment Remus himself must be in a fair amount of pain.

'I know but...I wasn't there when you needed me.' He whispered, looking incredibly ashamed.

'You're here now, that's all I care about.' Sirius whispered back and was happy to find Remus reaching down and placing a small kiss on Sirius' lips carefully, not wanting to frighten Sirius and make him flinch. 'I promise I won't break.' Sirius teased Remus for being so careful but inside he was incredibly grateful for Remus' patience with him, it must be incredibly frustrating for Remus to not do all the things he did usually.

'Oh shut up!' Remus laughed and Sirius pulled a look of mock surprise.

'My goodness Remy, how could you say such a thing? You'll damage my self-esteem you know.' Sirius laughed, feeling his chest ache with pain as he did so and Remus rolled his eyes in return.

'Shut up,' he repeated for Sirius' amusement.

Any other time Sirius would have quite gladly said "Make me." But he didn't think he could handle any more physical contact after that short kiss. He reached up towards Remus once more, his hand floating above Remus scar unable to bring himself to actually initiate any kind of contact between them.

'I'm sorry I wasn't there Remy,' he whispered softly echoing Remus' earlier words.

'You're here now, that's all I care about.' Remus replied, copying Sirius' earlier words also and causing them both smile. Smiling happily Sirius shifted as close as he could to Remus without actually touching him and inhaled deeply; enjoying the familiar scent that he loved so much. The Remus scent as he liked to think of it. _His_ Remy's scent.

'Oh no you don't, Sirius; you're not going to trick me into letting you go to sleep. You have to take your potion first.' Remus said firmly and handed him the potion.

Sirius groaned in annoyance and uncapped it, smelling it first. He screwed up his face in disgust simply from the smell of it but upon seeing the pleading look in Remus' eyes he sighed and took the two mouthfuls as he had been instructed.

Settling back down again he couldn't help but smile as he saw the look of relief on Remus' face at having seen Sirius take the potion.

'I love you Remy,' he whispered, closing his eyes.

'I love you too Siri.' Remus replied tenderly and together they both fell into a much needed sleep.

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**GiggleNo9**

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**Delia**

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**I just want to say that I'm sorry I don't get the chance to reply to the reviewers without account but I do read your reviews carefully and it's really appreciated!**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	48. Chapter 48 Nightmares

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

He peered across the large grass covered area, unable to see clearly in dark landscape. He had no idea where he was, but he was very aware that he was alone. He felt himself freeze in fear as he smelt something in the air; that disgusting, foul odour. _He _was here, somewhere behind him. He spun around quickly, feeling terror run through him. He could see a dark shape looming, No more than twenty feet away from him, and drawing steadily closer.

Then suddenly, it was right there beside him and the werewolf was looking down upon him with that cruel smirk he seemed so fond of wearing. It was edging closer, the smell growing more overpowering with each step he took. Then suddenly he launched himself forward towards Sirius viciously, eyes full of loathing and excitement all at once. Sirius knew he had little to no chance against this beast, he _was_ wandless after all.

He automatically attempted to run, but he was no match for the Greyback. Greyback had unparalleled senses and instincts. He was a ferocious killing machine. It took mere seconds for the Werewolf to catch up with him and tackle him to the ground roughly. He began struggling under the Werewolf's weight, unable to fight back before...and he screamed.

'Sirius!' Remus was shouting loudly, panic evident in his usually quiet voice. He could also here the faint shouts of James Potter somewhere in the background.

'Sirius!' Remus shouted again and Sirius opened his eyes. He could quite clearly feel the cold sweat trickling down his body, soaking through his clothes as he sat up shaking uncontrollably. Even his hair was sticking to his head due to the sweat and he gasped shakily, feeling almost as if he couldn't breathe.

Suddenly the door burst open revealing James Potter, wand raised ready to fight and seconds later his parents appeared just behind him with Peter in tow all holding their wands out. James rushed forward scanning the room for any signs of danger.

'What on earth is going on here?' James father shouted loudly, his wife stood just behind him as they came through the doorway. Sirius looked up and saw James now at his bedside, looking highly alert and with worry etched upon his young face.

Sirius tried to speak but couldn't manage it, his mouth moving soundlessly before he swallowed hard trying desperately to remove the rather uncomfortable lump in his throat, but it didn't budge.

'It's okay Siri, it was just a dream.' Remus told him in a calm, soothing voice.

'Oh dear, is that what was going on?' Mrs Potter asked concernedly. 'But what was all the shouting was for?' she asked, turning to Remus whose shouts alongside Sirius' unrealised scream had led the others to imagine all sorts of horrors that could have been going on.

'I'm sorry,' Remus apologised immediately, looking rather embarrassed. 'I woke up and he was shaking and...' but he trailed off apparently not wanting to say any more about Sirius. 'I just panicked and then you all heard him and James came rushing through all panicked and-' Remus was rushing his words, still seeming rather panicked himself. Sirius then realised that Remus had only been shouting in response to him. He must have screamed out loud whilst sleeping, like he had screamed in his dream.

'-It's okay dear,' She told Remus softly and turned to Sirius, eyes shining with concern still. 'Are you okay? Would you like me to fix you a warm drink?'

Sirius shook his head slightly and tried to swallow once more, trying to regain control over his body which seemed to be acting of its own accord. It had seemed _so _real. He felt himself begin to shake once more and Remus, noticing instantly, moved forward and wrapped his arms around him comfortingly. Remus seemed surprised that he hadn't flinched or pulled away. But Sirius wasn't surprised, he had known that he wasn't going to pull away; he_ needed_ Remus at that moment. He needed the comfort of knowing he was safe in Remus' arms, safe from danger and knowing that nothing bad would happen to him.

'Just a dream,' Sirius muttered to himself, eyes closed tightly once more as he tried to make himself calm down. But he couldn't. he continued shaking and was beginning to feel quite frustrated with himself for letting a _stupid_ dream have such a great affect on him. For letting it control him, he could just imagine how entertained Greyback would be if he had known about this.

'That's right...it was just a dream.' Remus whispered into his hair lovingly and Sirius continued to sit with his eyes closed, taking great comfort in having Remus to hold him close.

'You okay mate? James asked worriedly before climbing up onto the bed and sitting at the bottom to give them a bit more space. Sirius opened his eyes and looked up at his messy haired friend, giving him a small nod but not really wanting to speak, in all honesty he doubted that he would have been able to say anything at that moment even if he had attempted to. James reached a hand out, as if to place it on his back comfortingly but stopped at the last moment, clearly not wanting to make Sirius flinch or move from the one person he seemed able to let touch him. Sirius wanted to give his best friend a small smile but found that he was unable to actually make himself do so.

'James dear, you should make up a pot of tea for the four of you, make some extra for us too.' Mrs Potter said calmly before adding to Sirius 'I know you don't want it but it might be enough to calm your nerves a little.'

Mr and Mrs Potter then left to return to their own bedroom with pitying smiles on their faces. He didn't want their pity, or anyone else's for that matter. But he appreciated their understanding that he would only end up feeling embarrassed by their presence, and James headed towards the door, still with his wand in his hand as if holding it tightly was giving him some sense of security.

Sirius curled up even further into Remus arms and he surprised to find that for once Remus seemed to not care what any of the others thought and held Sirius closer. Caring only about being there to hold Sirius and comfort him.

'I'll be back in a few minutes,' James told them softly, giving Sirius a small smile in attempt to comfort him and bringing over the blue blanket that Sirius had slept under the previous night.

'I'll come too James, I can help you carry it all.' Pete piped up, clearly uncomfortable around the current wreck that was Sirius Black, and they both headed out the door quite quickly, closing it behind them once more.

He heard Remus let out a shaky breath, feeling his friend's chest rise and fall quicker than usual and Sirius nestled his head into Remus' chest, practically clinging onto him for comfort.

'You had me worried there Siri, you were tossing and turning in your sleep and it woke me up. Then...I half thought you were having a fit...until...until you screamed...' He broke of shakily and Sirius realised how much of a panic he must have caused Remus. He still couldn't get it out of his head, it had seemed freakily realistic and he could still smell that foul odour...as if he had really been there.

'Just a dream,' he muttered again, trying to rid the memory of his horrible nightmare from his mind.

'The dream you had Sirius...was it about...what happened at your house.' Remus asked; emotion laced in his voice as he said the words aloud.

'No, not exactly...' Sirius replied shakily, not wanting to mention any specific details. Sirius felt that mentioning Greyback as being the focus of his dream would only worry Remus further and he was fairly sure that it would cause Remus to think something had happened between them, and that Sirius had merely not mentioned it. The last thing Sirius wanted was to cause any tension between them, after all Greyback was an easy topic to get argumentative on.

'What do you mean?' Remus said, turning Sirius slightly to make sure he was looking him in the eye. Sirius looked up at him and he wanted to spill out every detail, wanted to be completely honest with him...but he couldn't. Not yet anyway.

'Please, I _really _don't want to talk about it.' Sirius said, his voice still shaking as much as his body was. Remus gave a small sigh and nodded, apparently highly frustrated by the lack of answers he was getting, and Sirius had to admit that if the situation was reversed he would probably have been far less patient than Remus was being.

'You should try to get some sleep Siri,' Remus said kindly but Sirius tensed immediately and Remus was quick to add; 'I know you don't want to, but you'll feel much better if you do. Nothing's going to happen and I swear I won't leave your side. Like I said, it was just a dream.'

'B-but.' Sirius stuttered feeling slightly embarrassed. He nodded awkwardly downward to indicate the sheets they were currently sat on; they were soaked through with Sirius' sweat. Remus gave him a small smile.

'It doesn't matter Siri, it's not cold anyway so we can just sleep on top of the covers for now, okay?' Sirius gave a shaky nod and climbed atop the covers with Remus following his example and sitting next to him. But he sat uncomfortably, not really wanting to lie back down and lose the warmth of having Remus so close to him.

Seeming to understand what Sirius was thinking Remus shifted back slightly so that he was sat up against frame at the top of the bed before holding his arms out. Sirius immediately scrambled forward into the young man's arms and gave a small sigh of relief. He couldn't help but marvel at the wonder that was Remus Lupin; if Sirius didn't know any better he would have sworn that Remus was psychic. He seemed to understand Sirius perfectly, always knowing exactly what Sirius needed even when Sirius himself wasn't exactly sure what he wanted or needed.

He snuggled his head into Remus chest and gave a small shaky breath, trying to calm himself. He could still feel himself shaking slightly but was incredibly comforted when Remus started playing with his hair absentmindedly. Smiling slightly at his friend's actions Sirius closed his eyes, deeply inhaling that familiar scent that Sirius had come to love so much.

'Goodnight Sirius,' Remus whispered softly, stroking his hair in a comforting manner.

'It was just a dream,' Sirius whispered to himself.

Remus picked up the discarded blanket from earlier on with one hand and draped it over the two of them carefully.

'That right Siri, it was just a dream.' Remus replied tenderly.

When Sirius awoke the next morning it was to find himself still curled up in Remus' arms and he smiled softly, still with his eyes closed and inhaled deeply, breathing in the young man's scent once more.

He was still sore but he felt slightly better than the day before and he was just away to move and gently awaken Remus when he heard two voices whispering away at the end of the bed. He supposed James and Peter must have stayed in Sirius' new room for the remainder on the night...or morning as it may have been.

'You can't be serious!' James said in a shocked voice.

'Think about it James, you know it makes sense.'

'But...no, you're wrong. They aren't like _that_. Especially Moony, he definitely wouldn't be, he's far too...you know, plain and normal. He's hardly going to shock everyone by coming out is he?' Even Padfoot wouldn't be, I mean he went with all those girls before...remember...plus he flirts with near enough everyone he speaks to.' Sirius knew that to be a lame excuse, he hadn't flirted aimlessly with girls since their fourth year.

'Yeah, but he doesn't mean any of it, you know that Prongs. I mean it was kind of obvious, you only had to look at them last night to figure it out.'

'He's a mess Wormtail, he needs some form of comfort and none of us happen to be female in case you haven't noticed.'

'He always goes running off to Moony about things though, plus that wasn't just getting comfort from a friend Prongs and you know it. I mean look at them, it doesn't matter what kind of things were going on with me you wouldn't ever catch me like that with one of you guys. I doubt you'd be jumping into their arms either if it was you.'

'He...He's not!' James said defiantly.

'I get that you're sort of freaked out by this Prongs, I mean you clearly didn't realise anything at all before I mentioned it but...'

'But nothing Wormtail! He's not like that, neither of them are! And he'd kick your ass if he heard you saying he was!' James hissed defensively and Sirius felt his stomach tighten uncomfortably, James was freaking out after just having Pete hint that there was something going on between the other two marauders.

'Look at them Prongs, look at them properly...just watch them together and you'll see it. Personally I'm just surprised I didn't realise before last night.'

'You're speaking nonsense Wormtail, and you know it!' James huffed loudly.

'No I'm not! You just don't want to admit that your best friends having been getting overly-friendly under your nose and you didn't even notice.' Pete replied, trying to make James listen to him.

'Whatever Wormtail, let's go get breakfast.' James sighed and the two boys left the room leaving Sirius in complete silence...and shock.

'You're awake aren't you, Siri.' Remus whispered and Sirius was surprised to find that Remus had also been awake for that conversation, he quickly swallowed the lump in his throat before replying.

'Yeah, how long have you been awake?' he asked awkwardly.

'Long enough to wonder what we're going to do about all this.' Remus sighed.

'I knew this would happen, he's gonna hate me Remy.' Sirius half whimpered.

'He just needs time to adjust, everything will be fine.' Remus replied although his tone showed he wasn't as confident as his words implied.

'I hope so Remy, I really do hope so...'

**Hey, to anyone who hasn't voted on my poll yet I just want to let you know I'd be **_**really **_**grateful if you would take a minute to vote. Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

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**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

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	49. Chapter 49 OWL's

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Don't you bloody think about it Prongs!' Sirius shouted as his messy haired friend headed towards him, his hair dripping madly with water.

'You know, that just makes me want to do it all the more.' James laughed back.

'Prongs I swear if you-' but the rest of his words were lost as he felt himself get pushed beneath the water. He quickly returned to the surface, choking up water and looking at James revengefully. He had gotten slightly better at allowing physical contact; as long as it wasn't unexpected then he was okay. But even then it depended on what kind of contact as well, he still hadn't returned to giving and receiving hugs at random moments but he was getting there...slowly. He was okay with Remus and James, but he got the feeling that if anyone else touched him it would have been a problem.

'Now, now Pads don't be looking at me like that...it was you own fault...you can't go insulting people and not expect to be punished.' James smirked.

'I'll call Evans whatever I want Prongsie.' He laughed, pushing his hair back out his face as it clung to him.

'Moony! Tell him to stop making fun of my Lily-flower.' James complained loudly to Remus who was currently sitting at the edge of the water reading one of the many books that had got his interest out of the Potters' vast collection.

'Don't go whining to Remy you big wuss.' He laughed at his friend but he saw a strange look in James' eyes and couldn't help but feel instantly awkward. James looked back up towards where Remus and Peter were currently sat before shaking his head slightly and returning to his attempts of dunking Sirius beneath the water.

Deciding he had had enough of being repeatedly dunked he made to swim away before noticing that Mr and Mrs Potter were walking towards their little pond – okay it was bigger than a pond but he didn't really know what else to call it, it was hardly lake sized – and he got a brilliant idea.

He allowed James closer and the two young men splashed each other as if they were small children before Sirius aimed a kick at James' leg causing James to gasp in shock before reaching his hands out to dunk Sirius beneath the water once more. Sirius allowed him to do so, taking a breath first, and then swan slightly lower down in the water so James couldn't just pull him up.

'Padfoot, stop joking around!' James said loudly but Sirius remained under the water.

'James, what's going on?' his mother called suspiciously.

'He's not coming back up, the git.' Remus looked up quickly towards James worriedly and Mrs Potter began to get slightly anxious.

'What do you mean he's not coming back up!' she called unhappily.

'He's not even drowning mum, he's just being a git.' James replied looking incredibly frustrated.

'James Potter, you bring that boy up to the surface right now!' James did as he was told, and Sirius waited patiently, allowing James to grab him before he opened his mouth. Allowing the water to go in his throat, knowing it would only be temporary.

They returned to the surface and due to Sirius' cunning plan he was able to splutter up plenty of water, choking loudly for added effect.

'What the hell James?' he spluttered. 'You know I'm not good under water.' He lied, turning away from the others and smirking at his friend who looked at him in shock. This was one Sirius' best set-ups yet.

'James-out now!' Mrs Potter shouted loudly and Sirius gave a small quiet laugh that only James was able to hear.

Sirius followed his friend out of the water and made his way over to Remus and Peter, smirking wildly at them and he saw realisation dawn on both of their faces.

'You're terrible Siri; he's going to be in a lot of trouble for that.' Remus said with a shake of the head.

'Be glad Remy, he'll get a slight shouting at and then be made to wash the dishes by himself after lunch. So really you should be thanking me, as we no longer have to participate in the washing of dishes.'

'It's unbelievable how quickly you come up with these things.' Remus reprimanded him lightly, a small smile playing on his lips as he did so.

'I know, I'm just an evil genius!' Sirius said loudly before continuing on to do his "evil laugh" which the other two marauders only shook their heads in amusement at.

'You Padfoot, are a dead man walking.' James said as he reached the group.

'You have to admit though; it _was _one of my better ones.' He smirked.

'Pretending that I deliberately pushed you under that water and that you can't swim under water, that's not just low, that's evil.' James laughed, clearly seeing the funny side to it.

'So what's your punishment?' Sirius asked lightly, waiting to have his point proven.

'I gotta do all the dishes on my own for the next three days _and_ I'm not allowed on my broom for the rest of the holidays.' He complained unhappily and Sirius grinned triumphantly.

'I told you he would,' he said to Remus happily and James look shocked. 'Admittedly I didn't foresee the broom kidnap but...'

'I take it back, you're not evil...you're a genius.' James said suddenly, his eyes lighting up mischievously.

'I think we should play a game when we get back to Hogwarts, Prongs,' Sirius grinned.

'What kind of game?'

'A game where we have to try and blame as many things as possible on each other and see who has the best skills at lying.'

'Deal,' James smirked and they shook on it.

'Come on you lot! Lunch is nearly ready!' Mr Potter called to them before turning and walking back up the hill to the Potters' house.

When they arrived at the house they were quite surprised to find that their Hogwarts letters had arrived, along with their O.W.L grades.

They all sat down, ready to share their results and James was the first to rip open his letter and find out his results:

Care of Magical creatures – Exceeds Expectations

Charms - Outstanding

Defence Against the Dark Arts - Exceeds Expectations

Divination - Outstanding

Herbology - Outstanding

History of Magic - Acceptable

Potions - Poor

Transfiguration - Outstanding

'Well done mate! You got four Outstandings! And I didn't think _anyone_ could get an Outstanding in Herbology.' Sirius grinned, throwing an arm over his friend's shoulders supportively. James grinned back, looking incredibly happy that he had received the closest thing to a hug that he had gotten since Sirius had appeared this summer and then looked at Pete.

'Go on the Wormtail, open yours.' He nodded shakily, clearly very nervous about his results and pulled out the letter.

Arithmancy - Acceptable

Charms - Exceeds Expectations

Defence Against the Dark Arts - Acceptable

Divination - Acceptable

Herbology - Exceeds Expectations

History of Magic - Poor

Potions - Outstanding

Transfiguration - Exceeds Expectations

'How the hell did you manage an Outstanding in Potions?' James said looking shocked and slightly jealous. It was the one class that James seemed to be _really_ rubbish at. Sirius and Remus quickly gave Peter compliments on his marks to make up for James comment.

'Go on then Moony,' James said quickly and Sirius watched as Remus slowly opened his results looking quite nervous.

Ancient Runes - Outstanding

Charms - Exceeds Expectations

Defence Against the Dark Arts - Outstanding

Herbology - Exceeds Expectations

History of Magic - Acceptable

Muggle Studies - Outstanding

Potions - Exceeds Expectations

Transfiguration - Exceeds Ecpectations

'Three Outstandings!' James shouted happily for Remus, who was currently wearing a small smile and Sirius could tell he was extremely happy with his results.

'That's great Remy!' Sirius grinned happily. 'And in Defence Against the Dark Arts too, that's pretty impressive!' and he watched quite happily as Remus blushed slightly from the compliments.

'Go on then, read yours out, Siri,' Remus encouraged nodding towards Sirius' own results. Taking a small breath to calm himself down slightly he opened the letter, pulling it out and found that he now felt slightly nervous.

Care of Magical Creatures - Outstanding

Charms - Outstanding

Defence Against the Dark Arts - Exceeds Expectations

Herbology - Poor

History of Magic - Acceptable

Muggle Studies - Outstanding

Potions - Exceeds Expectations

Transfiguration - Outstanding

'Four Outstandings!' he shouted with excitement and quickly found Remus' arms around him, hugging him tightly for his acheivements.

'That's great Padfoot!' James shouted enthusiastically and threw himself forward joining into the two young men's hug. 'Come 'ere.' He added, pulling Pete into it as well. The hug ended quickly however, when Sirius pulled away from the young men, Sirius feeling incredibly uncomfortable with having them all touching him at once.

'What in Merlin's name is all the shouting about?' Mr Potter asked, coming into the sitting room with an amused look on his face. He was beginning to get used to his once quiet house being constantly filled with loud bubbly noise of the friendly teenagers.

'We got our O.W.L results,' James explained loudly before thrusting his letter into his father's hands proudly.

'That's great James! Four Outstandings you should go tell your mum.' His father replied enthusiastically and Sirius realised that his own parents would never know of his results...it was a strange to think that was never going to go back that hell hole he once thought of as his home. James ran through to the kitchen and they began to follow. But Mr Potter held an arm out to stop Sirius, being careful not to actually touch him and smiled softly at him.

'How did you do Sirius?' Mr Potter asked, and Sirius had to admit the Potters' had been really good to him. They were treating him like a second son and he couldn't possibly have explained how nice it felt, how valued it made him feel. Moving forward he handed his letter to Mr Potter and watched as his eyes scanned over it reading it closely before smiling widely and looking Sirius directly in the eye.

'You've done very well Sirius, I'm proud of you.' He said with a genuine smile on his face and Sirius felt his spirits raise considerably more. He had never had that before, a parent displaying their happiness at his achievements and he smiled back appreciatively.

'Thank you,' he replied, unsure what else to say and blushing slightly from the openness that the entire Potter family seemed to have.

Mrs Potter had been practically sucking the life out of James with a bone crushing hug when he and Mr Potter entered the room. She kissed James several times, clearly very happy with his results and Sirius found it incredibly amusing to watch as James struggled slightly, trying to get out his mother's arms in order to breathe properly.

'Sirius sweetheart, how did you do?' she asked, still smiling happily from James' results. As he had done with Mr Potter he handed her the results quickly, feeling awkward. She unfolded the letter and read over it carefully before looking up at him happily.

'Oh, Sirius! That's fantastic dear.' She said lovingly, pulling him into a big hug and planting a kiss on his cheek.

He flinched unintentionally, squirming internally and pulling away quickly leaving Mrs Potter looking incredibly guilty about her actions.

'Oh Sirius, I'm so sorry dear, I didn't think.' She said looking apologetic.

'It's okay, I just...' but he left it hanging, it was incredibly frustrating to be like this. He wasn't even sure what had caused it really...it wasn't as his father had beaten him physically; it had all been by wand. Yet, he seemed unable to go back to normal. He was barely okay with his boyfriend and his best friend touching him, they had now got to the point where they only touched him if they thought it was necessary or if they were messing around and it was all fully expected and short touches.

'No, no don't worry dear, it was my own fault. I guess I got a bit over-excited.' She said before turning to the remaining boys and smiled. 'Did you get the results you wanted?'

Remus and Peter both nodded at her in return, quickly telling her their favourite marks and she smiled, offering them her congratulations.

'So what time was is it that you were to be leaving boys?' she asked Peter and Remus kindly as they all sat down to eat their lunch.

'Shortly after lunch.' Remus explained politely. The full moon wasn't too far away now and he was leaving early so as to not gain any suspicion when he started to pale and weaken as he always did before the full moon. This way he could leave with the excuse of wanting to spend some time with his parents before returning to school. Pete was also leaving with the same excuse in order to make play along and make it look all the more believeable.

Sirius felt incredibly saddened by this, it was going to be strange not having them around, especially Remus. Sirius had been having that same nightmare every night since his arrival and the marauders had quickly changed their ideas of swapping Remus and Peter between James' and Sirius' rooms in order for Sirius to have Remus there to comfort him when he awoke. Naturally, Sirius was not looking forward to his first night alone in his new room and James had offered to stay in his room with him for the remainder of the holidays.

'It'll be nice to go home, not that we don't love it here, but I can tell my parents my O.W.L marks to their faces instead of through a letter.' Remus continued and Mrs Potter smiled lovingly at him, putting more food onto his plate at he talked. Mrs Potter seemed rather fond of Remus, and Sirius had a sneaking suspicion that she rather liked how nice and polite Remus always was compared to James who tended to only give her short answers and often forgot his manners – or that manners actually existed, Sirius thought amusedly.

When it came to the time that Remus and Peter were leaving Sirius had felt an instant ache at the idea of not seeing them for so long. It was only four days before their return to Hogwarts but Remus wasn't going to be able to make it on the First of September due to it being the day after the full moon, and knowing his transformation would be horrible without the Marauders, but had assured him he would be back at school for the first day of classes.

This had done little to ease Sirius' unhappiness; he remembered quite clearly the last time that Remus had not appeared on the first day back and the amount of gossip that had surrounded him due to it. He wondered what the excuse would be this time for all the nosy students and Sirius made a mental note to write to Remus and come up with a good excuse.

'Well I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express.' Remus lied sadly, keeping up the act for James' parents' sake and Sirius was quick to pull the scarred young man into a hug, initiating the physical contact between them for the first time since his arrival at the Potters' and holding on tightly knowing that this would be his last hug for a while and that he wanted it to be a good one.

'See you Remy,' he whispered back sadly, before pulling away feeling a dull ache in his chest as he lost contact with him. James then proceeded to hug Remus and Sirius smiled weakly at Pete and said his goodbyes.

When they disappeared Sirius gave a small sigh and sat down on one of the large cushy chairs in the Potters' sitting room.

Seeming to note Sirius' sadness Mrs Potter quickly smiled at the two young men and informed them that they were going to go out for a meal later on to celebrate their good O.W.L. results and had said that James could have his broom back due to his achievements.

They had spent the afternoon flying about, chasing the Snitch that James had nicked from Hogwarts before realising the time and rushing up stairs quickly to get changed into something more suitable and Sirius had closed his bedroom door behind him before taking off his t-shirt – the Potters' had bought him new clothes since he only had what he had been wearing when he arrived- and placing it carefully on the chair beside the desk, which they had also bought him, before changing into more suitable clothes for going out in. He then picked the t-shirt up once more and inhaled, breathing in the small amount of Remus' scent that was still on it.

This was going to be the longest six days of his life.

**I thought it would be nice to have a chapter that wasn't serious considering the last few have been quite serious...no pun intended haha**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**Siredna**

**GinnysbestM8**

**Delia**

**GiggleNo9**

**SweetoothMegs**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	50. Chapter 50 Fearing the Worst

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Boys you need to get up now!' Mrs Potter called loudly up the stairs. 'Boys it's half nine! We need to be at Kings Cross in a little over an hour's time and you boys aren't even up and washed yet.' She called again frantically.

'We're up, we're up!' James shouted before placing his head back down into his pillow. 'we need to get up,' he mumbled half heartedly into his pillow and Sirius laughed before getting up quietly and heading for the door but James chose that moment to look up unexpectedly, wearing a suspicious expression on his tired face.

'What are you doing?' the messy haired boy asked curiously and Sirius thought James' hair looked the worst he had seen it yet, unable to control his laughter he erupted loudly causing James to sit up unhappily.

'What's so funny? The bespectacled young man huffed.

'Your bloody hair mate!' Sirius barked out in amusement and he quickly received a pillow to the face for his laughter.

'Uncalled for James,' he laughed and James laughed back before returning to his suspicious look.

'What are you doing?

'Getting to the shower before you get a chance to.' Sirius grinned wildly and ran out the room much to the unhappiness of James Potter whose shouts could quite clearly be heard throughout the Potters' large house.

They had barely even had time to grab a bite of toast before leaving for Kings Cross and when they finally arrived there Sirius could have sworn that it was even more packed than usual. He felt incredibly strange as he watched the first years being seen off by their parents. They were _so _small.

'I know they're tiny,' James laughed when he saw Sirius looking in amusement at two small boys who were talking rather excitedly about a recent Quidditch match they had attended.

'You were that size too once,' Mr Potter reminded them, laughing at the two young men's indignant expressions.

'Where are Remus and Peter?' Mrs Potter asked sadly as she looked around for them.

'They're already on the train I suppose.' James said weakly and Sirius could feel Mrs Potter watching him, as if trying to figure out what was going on by awaiting any reaction that Sirius might have. But he didn't have to put up with her curious expression much longer as they were quite loudly knocked out of any previous thoughts by a ranting black haired boy.

'You filthy piece of shit!' a voice shouted angrily and all four of them turned to see a rather angry looking Regulus Black heading in their direction. Many of the students had turned to watch and a lot of the younger pupil's parents were looking disapprovingly at the foul mouthed pupil. Clearly not happy that their children would be attending the same school as such a badly mannered child.

'Fuck off, Regulus!' James said defensively as he stepped forward to stand in front of Sirius protectively and Sirius was rather surprised to find that James' parents hadn't even told the boy off for his language

'This has nothing to do with you Potter' Regulus snapped angrily, pushing him roughly out of the way. 'I suppose that's where you went running off to then.' He said with a rather disgusted look on his face. 'You went to live with a bunch of good for nothing blood traitors.' Sirius felt his anger flare slightly and wanted to nothing more than to be the bigger person and not rise to the bait, but simply couldn't.

'You're a deluded idiot Reg,' Sirius replied in irritation. 'You speak as if everyone else has the wrong mind set. But you're the scum; the entire Noble House of fucking Black is ridiculous. Every last one of them is a worthless idiot who is so far up their own arses they don't realise how stupid they look to the rest of the world.'

'How dare you! How dare you insult us, we are the only people in this society that haven't completely lost the plot! It's all a joke, even Hogwarts is a joke...letting in all sorts,' he said rudely, that look of disgust appearing on his face once more as he spoke. 'Blood traitors, Halfbloods, Mudbloods...it's all the same. They don't deserve to be treated as our equals.' He shouted furiously and Sirius was willing to bet that Regulus had just made an enemy of most of the school. Not that he was likely to care; he would just hang about with _perfect _littlepurebloodSlytherin cronies and think everything was fine with the world as long as he didn't associate with some who was a _lesser _being than him.

'Can't you see that you're clearly in the wrong Reg? Look around you, most of the people here fall into those categories.'

'You included!' Regulus snapped back. 'You're nothing but a waste of space Sirius, a blood traitor and I'm glad that our family has disowned you!' he said cruelly.

'In case you failed to notice, they _didn't _disown me. I left on my own accord. I couldn't stand to be in that house with the type of filth who constantly hangs around hoping to find something to increase their status.'

'Mother blasted you off the tapestry,' Regulus smirked, clearly amused at the idea of annoying Sirius. 'The night you left, did you know that?' he shouted and Sirius realised that he honestly didn't care. He wasn't in slightest bit bothered what his parents or the rest of his family thought of him, they were all a bunch of raving lunatics anyway.

'I couldn't care less Reg, it's all pointless crap. I don't need you or any of the idiots that were _supposed_ to be my family. I have a _real_ family, people that actually care about me and not about keeping face for a bunch of psychopaths who are hell bent of killing and torturing people without reason.'

'Yeah, well no matter what you're always going to be lumped in with the rest of us Sirius, at the end of the day you will _always _carry the Black name. You have no chance of blending in with everyone else, and its blood traitors like you that are easily noticeable, people like you will be the first to pay when this war kicks off.' Regulus snarled, coming right up to Sirius' face.

'I hope you have fun in that deluded little world of yours Sirius, I wouldn't be surprised if every last one of you lost your lives trying to fight for a pitiful cause. You can't fight it Sirius, can't fight _him_, the dark lord. He's going to take over and you're going to wish you hadn't been so quick to play _hero_ to a bunch of lowlifes.

'It's you lot that are the low life's, thinking you're so much better than everybody else. Maybe you're the ones that should be worried. Good always beats Evil and you lot certainly can't claim to be the good side, now can you?' Sirius said quietly. But Regulus seemed unbothered by Sirius' words and continued as if Sirius hadn't even spoke and dropping his voice a great many levels so that only the two of them could hear his next choice of words.

'Like I said blood traitors will be the first to go.' Regulus hissed wildly, his eyes flickering over towards the Potters as he said spoke. 'Or maybe not,' he contemplated with a smirk. 'Maybe your little mongrel friend will be one of the first to be punished, couldn't make it here today, could he?' Regulus drawled callously.

'You don't know the first thing about Remus,' Sirius growled warningly, feeling his anger flare immensely.

'Oh, I think you know _exactly_ how much I know Sirius, our family never were a fan of beasts like him, and neither is the Dark Lord apparently.' He hissed in amusement.

Before he even had a chance to realise what he was away to do he flung himself forward – not caring in the slightest that every fibre in his body was screaming at him not to touch the other boy. He didn't care how incredibly unbearable it was to be having any kind of physical contact with his brother let alone being on top of his brother as they both fell to the ground with a large _thud_. Sirius was now punching his brother repeatedly, determined to cause him as much pain as humanly possible in order to shut him up.

'SIRIUS, NO!' James shouted and both he and his father rushed forward to pull him off the struggling young Slytherin. They managed it quickly enough, far quicker than they would have any other time; due to the fact that as soon as they had grabbed hold of him Sirius he had flinched and pulled quickly out of their grasps, moving away from both them and Regulus. His mind screaming at him that it had just had far too much physical contact for it to handle.

'What's wrong Sirius? Did I touch a nerve?' Regulus spat angrily, blood flying out of his mouth with each and every word.

'STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, FROM ALL OF US! IF YOU COME ANYWHERE NEAR...I SWEAR...I'LL KILL YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS' Sirius snarled viciously and everyone around were looking at Sirius with a look of utmost terror on their face.

'Sirius, calm the hell down!' James shouted loudly at him, now standing in front of him to stop the two brothers fighting any more.

'NO, I WON'T FUCKING CALM DOWN! I SWEAR IF HE COMES ANYWHERE NEAR...I'LL HURT HIM SO BAD I'LL MAKE HIM WISH I'D USED AN UNFORGIVABLE ON HIM' Everywhere around them Sirius could hear gasps at his words, people now looking horrified that their children were going to be in the same vicinity as him. He could feel the eyes of his fellow students on him, his classmates. They had all got what they had wanted all along, what they had been waiting for since he had first arrived at Hogwarts; A big conflict, something to show them that he wasn't as different from his family as he had tried to make out. Something which showed just how dark he was, how dark he could be when provoked. He had just proven everyone right, after trying for so long to show the difference between him and his family.

Sirius couldn't seem to think straight, his heart was pounding; as was his head and he couldn't seem to breathe normally, his breaths were coming out ragged and uncontrollable. He could feel the anger surging through him at that moment. Regulus knew, he knew about Remus and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

This wasn't good; he needed to stop him from telling anyone. How the hell did he even know? Sirius' head was filled with a million trails of thought as Regulus' glare turned into a triumphant smirk and he turned his voice back to its original level.

'And Sirius?' he called towards him, wearing that stupid smirk as he spoke, only causing Sirius to feel more on edge than before. Worried that at any given moment Regulus could drop Remus' secret into the public eye. 'Greyback says hi.' Sirius felt an uncontrollable rage run through him at Regulus' words and he flung himself forward once more, struggling against James and his father who were both stopping him from attacking his brother right there and then. He wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk of that idiot's face, to rip his bloody face off if given half the chance.

'GET THE HELL OFF ME!' Sirius snarled at the two Potters, not even feeling guilty as he did so, not even caring as they looked at him in shock before finally letting him go when they saw Regulus was now out of sight.

'Don't do this Sirius, I'm begging you. I can't hold you back by myself once we leave this platform, but I swear if you want to get yourself expelled then you'll have to kill me first cus I'm not stepping aside and letting you throw your life away.' James told him firmly and Sirius could feel everyone on the platform staring at him as he stood there, gasping for breath and trying desperately to regain his normal way of thinking.

This wasn't good; he didn't feel like himself anymore. He felt like he had completely lost control of himself and it terrified him to feel like that.

'I...I need to sit down.' Sirius said shakily and without moving decided to sit right where he had stood.

'Sirius what are you doing?'

'James don't, just let him sit for a few minutes...he needs to calm down and if this will help him do that then he should sit.' Sirius felt incredibly angry at those words, as if he was being unreasonable in some way. He had every right to feel angry. His brother has made a fool of him in public, had-in a matter of minutes-destroyed the image Sirius had worked to build for himself and what was worse, Regulus had found out about Remus.

Nothing could _ever _have prepared him for that revelation and Sirius felt sickened by the thought of Regulus knowing such a thing. If he knew, then that meant his family knew as well...but if Regulus knew then there was no telling who he may have told. What is the Slytherins all knew, what if Snape knew? Snape had been acting suspiciously before, had been curious about Remus...what if now, he finally knew?

'Are you okay? I saw what was going on...and I thought...' Sirius looked up to see Lily Evans now standing beside them and looking towards him worriedly.

'Whatever it that you thought, you thought wrong Petal, I really _don't_ need annoying cows like you interfering in my business.'

'Sirius!' James exclaimed looking shocked by Sirius' never-ending stream of outbursts.

'Oh bugger off James; I don't care if you fancy Evans. You're love life, or lack thereof, _really _isn't my biggest problem right now.'

'I get that you're pissed off Sirius, but don't take it out on everyone else!' he said firmly.

'Pissed off? Pissed off? I'm more than just pissed off, I'm furious. _Trust _me, I'm so beyond just pissed off that even _I_ couldn't explain what I'm capable of right now so don't _fucking _push me James.' He snapped and grabbing his trunk he headed off in the direction of the train.

James grabbed his arm suddenly; his eyes displaying such emotion that Sirius thought his friend might well be capable of exploding with anxiousness.

'What the hell did he say to you to get you this riled up? James asked, clearly horrified by the possibilities. It was enough to make Sirius' protective shell crack and he burst out unexpectedly.

'He knows James, and there's nothing I can do!' Sirius said weakly, feeling his eyes tear up as he spoke. He was _not _going to cry, he thought to himself angrily. He was Sirius Black and Sirius Black _never _cried. He managed to stay firm, refusing to cry and it worked.

Apparently James didn't need any kind of explanation from Sirius, understanding exactly what Sirius had meant by those words.

'Oh shit...' James muttered looking terrified, running his hand through his hair and for once it wasn't to make it look _cool _for Lily. If James was terrified that was nothing compared to how Sirius felt at that moment. He felt like his entire world could quite easily collapse around him at any given moment, and the one person who could have made him feel in the tiniest bit better wasn't even here to hold his hand and tell him things would be alright.

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**AandBreatheMee-x**

**GiggleNo9**

**I have to admit I was a bit disapointed with the lack of responses to the last chapter but I''m hoping that I will get some more support for this chapter!**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	51. Chapter 51 Remus Returns

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

The first night back at Hogwarts had been truly terrible for Sirius. He hadn't gotten any sleep whatsoever and had spent the whole night fretting over what he would tell Remus the next day.

He had, of course, been dressed and ready far before the other two Marauders had even awoke and was quick to leave the dormitory without them, with the Marauder's Map in hand, and spent a good few hours sitting in the library with the map by his side. He wasn't actually doing anything but it was a quiet place where he was unlikely to be disturbed and he was able to observe the map, waiting for a label saying "Remus Lupin" to appear.

It wasn't until he was nearly ready to head back up to the dorms and wake his friends that he suddenly noticed the appearance of Remus Lupin on the map, having just been brought into Hogwarts via the Dumbledore's office – assumedly by Floo.

Grinning happily he made his way to the headmaster's office and stood outside patiently. It didn't take long for the statue to move and allow its occupant, or in this case occupants-out. He hadn't thought Dumbledore would leave the office with him but he supposed he would just have to improvise.

'Good Morning, Mr Black.' Dumbledore smiled. 'I assume that it merely a coincidence that you happen to be standing outside my office at this particular moment.' He asked, eyes twinkling with amusement.

'Of course sir, looks like it must be my lucky day.' He grinned before indicating with his head to Remus that they should walk along the opposite direction from the Headmaster. He was incredibly grateful that the Headmaster had been so easy on him; Sirius hadn't even needed to come up with a lame excuse for his being there.

They rushed along the corridor and as soon as they were out of sight-with the Marauders Map indicating that no one was near them-Sirius took the initiative and leaned forward, capturing Remus' lips with his own and kissing him tenderly.

'What did you do?' Remus joked.

'Ha ha, you're very funny.' Sirius replied sarcastically before leaning in once more and kissing the pale boy.

'That's a very nice welcome back present.' Remus chuckled lightly as they pulled apart and Sirius shot him a grin.

'You surprised? I didn't flinch or anything.' He said proudly.

'Very, and I'm very happy you've stopped flinching so much as well. Does that mean you're feeling less...' he seemed to struggle for the word but Sirius understood.

'Nope, still hate people touching me...totally freaked yesterday when James and his dad grabbed me but-' he stopped suddenly realising what he had said.

'-What did you do?' Remus said, this time seriously but with a small amount amusement clear in his voice and Sirius guessed that Remus probably thought he'd just been up to something he shouldn't have been.

'Doesn't matter, I'll explain later.' He shrugged; wanting to look like it wasn't a big deal. He wanted Remus to be able to relax at Hogwarts and not spend all his time in fear of being revealed. Sirius would just have to make sure it didn't come to that.

'Can we skip breakfast?' Sirius pleaded.

'Why? I'm still worried you're not eating enough, you know.' Remus informed him and Sirius rolled his eyes at Remus' over caring nature.

'Well can we grab food from the Kitchens then? I just want some time on my own with you.' He told the scarred young man, doing his best attempt at puppy dog eyes.

'Puppy dog eyes Sirius, really?' Remus chuckled.

'Stop being mean Remy; I'm trying to look adorable for you.' He laughed.

They had headed to the kitchens and grabbed plenty of food-although mostly desserts that they should not be having at breakfast time- before they had headed out to their favourite tree beside the lake and Sirius opened up the map and left it sitting out, using it to properly make sure that no one was near them.

'How was the transformation?' Sirius asked quietly and watched as Remus looked out onto the lake with a sad expression.

'Painful, although not as bad as...well...' He said and Sirius knew that Remus was referring to the one before it, the night Sirius had ran away from home.

'You look tired, Siri.' Remus commented lightly.

'Didn't get much sleep last night.' He shrugged in return

'You didn't get much or didn't get any, Sirius?' Remus asked, one eyebrow rose suspiciously as he asked the question.

'None,' he admitted sadly.

'Why? The dreams haven't got worse have they?' Remus asked, his voice now laced with concern for him.

'No, I...well I suppose you'll find out soon enough anyway, it's apparently the only thing people have to gossip about...what I mean is-'

'-Start again,' Remus smiled encouragingly and Sirius took a deep breath before continuing.

'I...I sort of got into a fight yesterday and...And it was _really _bad, Remy.'

'With who, Snape?'

'Regulus. He kicked off as soon as he saw me and...well we ended up fighting, it was really bad and I...I kind of lost it, Remy. I've never felt like that before, I...It was like I wasn't even in control of myself. I was just _so _angry, I...I genuinely think I could have killed him if James had left me to it...' he broke off, feeling frustrated and upset all over again and Remus stared at him with such concern that he felt even more frustrated than before.

'I don't think you would Siri, You're not a killer.' Remus said softly, reaching up and cupping his face, stroking his cheek gently and Sirius closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of Remus' fingers running along his face.

'I...I can't explain it properly but trust me I could have...I've never felt like that before Remy...it was terrifying.' He admitted, feeling extremely vulnerable for putting out his feelings so openly.

'Why...what did he do to make you so angry?' Remus asked, his eyes flashing defensively and Sirius loved seeing Remus get that protective look about him.

'He...he knows about you Remus.' He admitted, feeling awful for dumping the news on his friend.

'H-How did he find out?' Remus whispered worriedly.

'I'm not sure exactly, but he made a comment about Greyback, so I assume from him...'

'So...everyone heard your argument?' Remus asked fearfully.

'No, they heard all the stuff he was shouting about me being a traitor and stuff, the rest of it he made sure to be quiet enough for only me to hear'

'Why? What would he gain from that?'

'He gets to make it personal, gets to feel in control,' Sirius said unhappily. 'He knows he's got me right where he wants me. Knows I'd do anything to stop it from coming out.' He sighed and Remus looked even more worried than before.

'I don't like the idea of him having control over you Siri,' he admitted unhappily.

'Neither do I but I'd rather do whatever he wants than have you revealed to the whole school.' Sirius told him firmly before shifting closer to Remus, taking another glance at the map to make sure no one was sneaking around anywhere near them.

'I'm glad you're back.' Sirius said happily, pulling Remus closer and smiling at him.

'Sirius, is this really a good idea? What if someone sees us...?' Remus began awkwardly but Sirius grinned happily and pointed towards the map.

'There isn't anyone anywhere near us Remy, and if anyone does come closer it'll show up.' Remus seemed to have taken that as a pretty good excuse because he was now kissing Sirius with an amount of passion that was rarely available to them, due to the fact that they couldn't really get passionate in their dorm and risk being heard.

Sirius grinned wildly against Remus' lips, enjoying the feeling of having Remus kissing him so hungrily. He continued to kiss him back, allowing a hand to travel along the scarred young man's back, his hand soon disappearing beneath Remus' shirt and tracing the scars on his back with his fingers. Remus gave a small moan at his touch and Sirius felt a sudden thrill rush through him, more exciting than anything he had previously felt in their "make-out" sessions.

Sirius was perfectly content to pull Remus closer still and allow his pale friend to climb atop him, thrilling Sirius all the more. He didn't think he could ever possibly get enough of this, having Remus pressed against him and kissing him so passionately was ridiculously exciting.

He was certainly far from complaining when Remus began kissing his neck softly but it hadn't taken him long to realise that he wasn't capable of simply sitting by and letting Remus have all the fun and began leaving a trail of kisses down Remus' own neck before moving downwards and unbuttoning the pale young man's shirt.

He was enjoying this incredibly, exploring Remus' body with excitement and gently kissing along the scars that adorned his friend's chest. It wasn't until Sirius began running out of room to explore that he realised what was happening fully. He had now reached the top of the boy's trousers, where his shirt had been previously neatly tucked, and realised with a slight surprise that they had reached uncharted territory now.

This was as far as they had gone and Sirius now felt acutely aware of his lack of experience in this area of their relationship. It wasn't as if Remus was experienced either but Sirius still felt slightly embarrassed about it.

He began slipping his hand lower, ready to begin a brand new exploration but Remus grabbed hold of his hand quickly, face flushed.

'Not here Siri, we'll get too carried away and before we know it someone will appear without us even looking at the map.' Sirius gave a small sigh but he supposed Remus was probably right. After all, Sirius hadn't looked at the map in the whole time since they had started kissing.

It wasn't until Sirius shifted slightly that he realised that he was, in fact, more _excited _than he had originally realised and began blushing furiously. Noticing straight away Remus smirked slightly, that rarely seen mischievous look clear in his sparkling eyes.

'Don't worry about it,' Remus told him, smirk now gone and replaced with a smile but Sirius got the feeling that Remus had only stopped smirking to avoid making Sirius any more embarrassed than he already was.

Remus then leaned forward and kissed him again; this time it was less rushed but just as passionate and Sirius didn't think he could handle much more if they would have to stop.

'Curse you Remus, do you _realise _what you're doing to me.' Sirius laughed and Remus only smirked in return, clearly rather amused by the whole situation.

'I'm fairly aware,' Remus replied, a smirk still playing on his face.

Sirius gave a loud, unhappy groan as Remus shifted and moved off of him.

'We should get going you know, we'll need to get the others before we head to class, Potions first isn't it?'

'Yeah, but James doesn't do Potions anymore, his mark wasn't good enough...so we should probably go ahead without Pete otherwise we're kind of rubbing it in James' face that we all got in.

Remus stood up; holding a hand out to him but Sirius shook his head.

'Just a _few _more minutes, Remy.' He complained loudly, pulling _his _Remy back down to sit with him once more and wrapping his arms around him. It had been a while since he had done this, just sat quietly with Remus in his arms. It seemed to be more and more the case recently that Remus had been the one holding _him _and as much as he loved it he had missed getting the chance to hold him close.

'Remy!' he said suddenly, realisation dawning on him.

'What?' Remus replied looking quite startled by his friend's outburst.

'We did all that and I didn't pull away, or flinch, or anything!' he grinned happily, having just realised that maybe he was getting better after all.

'Well done Sirius,' he said teasing him lightly. 'We'll have to get you a medal.'

'You stole that line from James, that's plagiarism' Sirius laughed and Remus shrugged in return.

'It still works, regardless.' And Sirius smiled, holding Remus all the closer as he did.

But he had quite quickly been proven wrong on his idea, he and Remus had went to Potions and he had felt perfectly happy, thinking that he was clearly getting better with physical contact. But it turned out that it was merely with Remus, that his physical contact with seemed to have bettered.

The potions class was incredibly small; apparently not many of them had got in, even though the pass needed was Exceeds Expectation. They had been quickly divided into pairs of two and Sirius was unhappy to find that for the first time since they had started Potions, he hadn't been allowed to partner with Remus and had instead been put with Lily Evans- much to his displeasure. What was worse was that she had attempted to talk to him normally, and had made the effort to not be snippy little cow and he had completely thrown in back in her face. It wasn't like he had done it deliberately; he just couldn't seem to summon up anything remotely nice to say to her.

'Could you pass me the Boomslang Skin?' she asked politely, the two of them having sat in silence for a fair while. But Sirius hadn't heard her request and was staring over at Remus who had been quite unfortunately partnered with Snape.

'Sirius,' she said slowly, trying to get his attention and she reached out to him, placing a hand of his arm to get his attention. That's when he had realised he wasn't as okay with physical contact as he had thought, pulling away quickly and flinching from her touch. Needless to say, she had looked incredibly startled and he had felt instantly embarrassed, quickly covering it up with false anger.

'What the hell are you doing Evans?' he snapped.

'I didn't mean to make you jump, whatever I did to upset you I'm sorry, okay!' she said looking close to tears and Sirius couldn't help but wonder what had gotten her so upset quickly.

'What is going on?' Slughorn asked the pair unhappily and they both looked away, not wanting to look at each other.

'Nothing, we're fine.' Sirius said in an irritated tone. 'Best of friends.' He added sarcastically and he could feel Remus' worried eyes following him.

'Look I really am sorry, I didn't realise it would upset you.' She said quietly.

'It doesn't matter, just don't do ever do it again.' He said firmly. It looked like he was far from being recovered from his inability to bear physical contact. It was strange that he had managed to get so intimate with Remus but with other people he couldn't stand to be touched at all. It seemed that Remus and James were the only people who could do it without freaking him out.

'Okay...um...could you pass me the boomslang skin, please' she said quietly, apparently now feeling timid around him.

So he did as asked and they continued on with their lesson, Sirius feeling more and more irritated with every passing minute.

'What happened in there?' Remus asked, pulling him aside, as they -and Peter- exited the dungeons.

'She touched me and I kinda freaked.' He mumbled awkwardly. Remus reached out, placing a comforting hand on Sirius' arm and Sirius smiled at him. See, he had had grown perfectly used to _Remus'_ touch.

'I uh...I'm gonna get going to Transfiguration,' Pete said awkwardly and he then proceeded to rush off, despite the fact that Sirius and Remus were both going to be in that class with him.

'You don't think Pete's freaked by us, do you?' Sirius said suddenly, remembering Peter and James' _secret _conversation about them.

'Possibly...' Remus replied unsurely, his hand still resting on Sirius' arm.

'I doubt it though...he seemed fine before, he's probably just unsure how to act around us because he knows, but he doesn't know that we know that he knows.'

'Should I be worried that I understood that perfectly?' Remus chuckled.

'You should be worried if you understand any of the nonsense that comes out Sirius Black's mouth.' Lily Evans joked from behind them, having just exited the Dungeons at that moment.

Remus chuckled at her comment and asked;

'So are you doing Transfiguration still?' he asked her curiously.

'Yes, I got Exceeds Expectations for it.' She smiled happily.

'I suppose we'll walk you then.' Remus smiled and Sirius felt irritated once more. Remy was _his _and he didn't want Lily trying to suck up his time and attention.

'Sirius, are you coming with us or are you just going to stand there looking lost?' Lily smiled and he felt only more irritated by her. He didn't even give a nod of confirmation but walked with them, standing extra close to Remus as if doing so would somehow regain the scarred young man's full attention.

He was beginning to miss the days when Evans had hung around with Snape and not bothered them. She was taking away _his _Remy, and he was definitely _not _happy about it!

**The whole they "doesn't know that we know that they know" thing is totally nicked from the T.V. show Friends haha, gotta love it! Anyways just thought I'd say that before someone points it out to me!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**SweetoothMegs**

**Kombinant**

**Monkeybunspotter**

**GiggleNo9**

**Siredna**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	52. Chapter 52 Flowers, Brothers and a Squid

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius Black was _not _happy. He was currently sat in the Great Hall with his best friends...and Lily Evans. She seemed to have developed a new fascination with sitting with the Marauders during meal times – which, of course, James was ecstatic about – Sirius however, was _far _from happy with the new situation.

Lily wasn't acting much different from before – still seeing it as her life purpose to turn James down at every possible opportunity – but had now developed a way of managing to keep Remus' attention for long periods of time as well which Sirius found to be incredibly annoying.

'A new trip to Hogsmeade has been announced,' she was saying casually and Sirius had known what was coming before James and Remus even spoke.

'Why don't you come with us?' they both asked, although James sounded far too over-enthusiastic. Sirius, who was feeling incredibly frustrated, then proceeded to rather loudly bang his head off of the solid table.

'Sirius! Are you okay?' James asked quickly looking quite horrified.

'Just _perfect_ James...didn't you notice? My arm must have slipped.' Sirius replied sarcastically.' He then proceeded to the rest his face in his hands once more as if to back up his point. But Remus was looking at him, clearly not buying a word of it.

'Fancy a walk James? I'm incredibly fed up with my surroundings right now.' Sirius said, his voice containing a highly obvious amount of irritation.

'Siri-'

'-No worries Remy, if we happen to go to _that _place then I'll make sure to bring you something back.' Sirius told him with smirk, enjoying the look of confusion on Lily's face as he talked of Honeydukes. It was incredibly fun to know something she didn't and Remus looked at him disapprovingly, clearly not impressed.

'You're an idiot Siri,' James laughed, most likely thinking that Sirius was just rather being rather silly for mentioning it in front of Lily. Another thing that bugged Sirius was that they had all stopped using their Marauder nicknames for each other to avoid raising Lily's suspicions. They usually only kept their real names for serious conversations and when they were worried.

'Don't be deceived Jamsie, things aren't always what they seem, you know.' He teased his bespectacled friend.

'Like what?' James asked looking confused by the change in conversation.

'Well Jamsie, for example, there are many wild flowers in the world that look rather pretty and fairly harmless and people are fascinated with these flowers...for reasons I _really _don't understand...'

'And?'

'And, these flowers are – in actual fact – poisonous.' Sirius felt incredibly amused by his own joke.

'Sirius,' Remus said warningly but Sirius didn't look towards the pale young man and continued to look at James, knowing that if Remus understood perfectly then Lily was bound to be clicking on as well.

'Now James, doesn't Remus look like the type of person who would think a flower was perfectly harmless only to be tragically poisoned by it?'

'I don't know...'James said, clearly realising that he was missing something and looking rather baffled.

'You know James; you would be like that too. You would fail to notice that the aforementioned flower was in fact rather poisonous-

'-But I'm good at Herbology-' James stated firmly.

'-and you would fail to realise that it should be destroyed in order to keep the rest of the flowers in that happy, I mean healthy...slip of the tongue.'

'He's having an entirely different conversation in his mind than what he's actually saying James.' Remus said slowly before adding. 'He's saying one thing and meaning another. He should know better than to deliberately set out to hurt people's feelings.' The last sentence was rather sharp and Sirius turned to Remus unhappily.

But he was quickly distracted by the fact that his plan had worked. Lily Evans had stood up, gathering her things, and walked straight out of the Great Hall looking quite upset.

'Did you _really _have to do that Sirius?' Remus said looking quite frustrated with him.

'Yes,' Sirius said shortly. He didn't care if he had upset her. Maybe _now_ she would realise that her presence was unwanted.

'That was harsh Sirius, she didn't deserve that. She hasn't _done _anything to you to deserve that.'

'Yes she bloody well has Remus.' Sirius growled in annoyance, he was feeling incredibly irked that Remus was sticking up for _her._

Realisation seemed to have dawned on James, who was now looking towards the Great Hall's exit worriedly.

'I can't believe you did that Sirius!' James shouted suddenly. You _knew _she would catch on to what you meant!'

'So?' Sirius said flippantly, continuing to spread his toast as if had occurred.

'Go apologise Sirius.' James told him firmly, snatching Sirius' newly spread toast from his hands.

'No.' Sirius huffed loudly and leaned sideways, taking a bite out of the toast that Remus currently held in his own hands.

'Sirius!' the scarred young man complained in an exasperated manner and Sirius gave him an apologetic smile.

'You should blame James, Remy. He is the one who took _my _toast, it was James who drove me to this!' he could tell he sounded slightly overdramatic but he tried to not to let that bother him.

'I mean it Sirius!' James told him loudly. 'You've _really _upset her!'

'She upset me first James.' Sirius retorted unhappily.

'She hasn't _actually _done anything!'

'SHE'S LIKE A _FUCKING _LEECH, JAMES! EXCEPT INSTEAD OF SUCKING OUT ALL MY BLOOD SHE'S SUCKING OUT WHATEVER SMALL BIT OF HAPPINESS I ACTUALLY HAVE LEFT IN ME!'

'DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF? YOU'RE _ACTUALLY _BEING RIDICULOUS!' James shouted back, his face now reddening from their shouting match.

'I'm being ridiculous? _I'm _not being ridiculous, you are. If I'd made a nasty comment to anyone else you wouldn't have cared. There is more to the world than Lily _bloody _Evans!'

'There's more to the world than _you _getting your own way.' James snapped back angrily.

'The two of you act totally different when she's around and _I _get pushed aside so you can both try and make her feel _accepted_. Well I'm terribly sorry that Evans doesn't have any friends of her own James, but that really _isn't _my problem.'

'You're acting like a bloody first year! You're treating her badly because of how _we've _been acting. I'm sorry, but that is the most ridiculous excuse-'

'James,' Remus said quickly, now standing up and placing a hand on his friend's arm. 'Calm down. I'm sure she'll cheer up soon enough. Everyone knows Sirius can be a bit testy at times and I'm sure she'll forget it all soon enough.'

'Testy?' Sirius spat angrily.

'Come with me Sirius,' Remus said quietly, clearly wanting to tell him his opinions in private.

'Why should I? I did something to upset _precious _Lily and suddenly you all remember that I'm here.' Sirius snapped in frustration.

'You're being silly Sirius.' Pete said, trying to add something to the Marauders' argument.

'Silly? Silly?' Sirius fumed. Remus gave Peter a look that quite clearly said "of all the things you could have said that was the dumbest".

'Sirius, calm down and let's go for a walk.' Remus told him quietly. 'All of us.' He added, now looking at the others and the two young men nodded.

'Good, now let's go. We're all making a bit of a scene in here.'

They had barely even gotten out of the Great Hall when James had stopped unexpectedly and looked at the others as if debating something in his before speaking.

'Actually, I want to speak to Sirius on my own.' James said awkwardly. 'You don't mind, do you?' Remus looked slightly unsure whether he should leave them alone after their argument but Sirius gave him a small nod and Remus gave a sigh and agreed to let them go. Peter nodded to show he was okay with it as well and they turned and headed off in the opposite direction.

James and Sirius headed outside and towards the lake, before finally reaching its edge and sitting down side-by-side.

'Siri...I didn't mean to stop paying attention to you. I'm just so...' but he broke off as if unable to find the words.

'Ridiculously head-over-heels?' Sirius joked and James shoved him playfully.

'Pretty much.' James admitted quietly. 'I'm really sorry if I was ignoring you mate, I didn't mean to. It's just...I _really _like her Siri. She's beautiful, smart, funny...and she's a complete psychopath.'

'You do realise people don't _usually_ class being a psychopath as a good point?' Sirius teased and James laughed.

'She's amazing Siri, and I'm finally getting a chance to know her better. I don't wanna mess things up and I _really _wish that the two of you got on better because well...you're my best mate Siri. I want the two of you to like each other.'

'I know, and I'm being an annoying prick for not getting on with her better but I just can't seem to do it. I'm always going to think of her as Snape's evil little side-kick.'

'And she's always gonna think of you as mine,' James joked.

'I'm not your side-kick.' Sirius exclaimed in mock offence.

'You kinda are mate.' James grinned.

'Maybe...but I didn't admit to that.' Sirius laughed.

'Admit to what?' James asked, faking forgetfulness.

'James, I get that she's pretty and stuff but seriously...of all the people at Hogwarts why Lily?'

'I can't explain it Siri, think of the person that you've liked the most...' James said and Sirius felt awkward, surely James _knew _that he would be thinking of Remus. Yet he _still _hadn't brought it up.

'...In _that_ way?'

'Yeah, now think...what made you like that person so much?'

'I...I dunno' Sirius admitted, he loved Remus _so _much yet he couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly that had made him fall for his scarred friend.

'Exactly,' James said quietly and he was looking at Sirius in a way that made him extremely uncomfortable. He was looking at him as if he wanted to tell him something and Sirius had a feeling he already knew what it was. James wanted to tell him that he knew about Sirius' feelings for Remus.

'James mate, I'm sorry. I've been a right git, you're my best friend and I'm supposed to support you, no matter who you fall for.' He rushed quickly, hoping to avoid an uncomfortable conversation.

'It doesn't change anything you know.' James told him softly. 'Between us, I mean.'

'What do you mean?' Sirius asked.

'I mean that...no matter who either of us could possibly fall for, we're still best friends...brothers even, and...well...we always will be.'

'Really?' Sirius whispered hopefully.

'Yeah, I promise Siri...we'll always be best friends.' And Sirius wrapped his arms around James tightly, hugging his best friend closely. James hugged back and Sirius smiled, realising that this was their first _proper_ hug since Sirius had developed his dislike for people touching him.

'So...' James started with a smile.

'So?'

'So what are we doing sitting by the lake when we could be getting some chocolate from Honeydukes!' James grinned wildly.

'I don't know mate. I mean, _you're_ the one that led _me_ out here. I thought maybe you wanted to introduce me to the giant squid. After all I'll need to give you my approval before you take it on a date.' Sirius smirked and James swatted him playfully.

'I'm _not _taking the giant squid on a date Sirius!' he laughed loudly.

'James! You're mother would be horrified to know you were planning on seducing the giant squid without even taking it on a date first.'

'Mate, I think you'll find that my mother would be horrified plenty just to know I was trying to seduce the giant squid...never mind without going on a date first.'

'So you're admitting that you're trying to seduce the giant squid?' Sirius smirked.

'That's not what I meant Siri!' James complained loudly.

'Aww poor Jamsie...Now I do believe you were the one that said _I _liked getting things my own way.' Sirius laughed.

'You really are a git, you know.' James huffed.

'I won't hold your words against you my friend; I understand that talking about your feelings for the giant squid must be _very _difficult.' Sirius said, trying to keep a straight face.

'Yes,' James whispered back in mock fright. 'I'm so worried the squid will reject me.'

'If it does then you could always just set Lily on it...apparently she's a psychopath.' Sirius laughed, having just used James' earlier words against him.

'That she is Siri. That she is.' He grinned back. 'Well, I do believe that we are in need of some chocolate my friend.'

'I'm afraid we'll have to wait a while...the next Hogsmeade trip isn't for weeks.' James joked.

'What will we do?' Sirius called out dramatically, pretending to shake James with worry.

'Be brave Sirius! We can make it through this if we stick together!'

'Yeah?' Sirius grinned.

'Yeah,' James smiled back, and together they headed back up to the castle.

'You _do _realise that you'll have to apologise to Lily.' James told him lightly.

'If it'll shut you up James,' He replied, rolling his eyes.

'You _really _shouldn't do that Siri.' The messy haired boy laughed.

'Why?' Sirius asked, pouting heavily.

'Because rolling your eyes doesn't suit you at all. It's far more a _Remus _type thing to do.'

'Yeah that Moony does enjoy rolling his eyes a lot doesn't he?'

'I'm afraid he does Sirius, we may need to try and discover a cure for it before it becomes contagious and we all find ourselves constantly rolling out eyes.' James then rolled his eyes for added affect and Sirius laughed loudly.

'I'm afraid it might already be too late for you Prongs.' He said pretending to be incredibly devastated by this discovery.

'Whatever shall I do?'

'Go seduce the giant squid one last time?' Sirius joked and he was quickly smacked across the head for his comment.

'You're such a bully Prongs.'

'You're such a bully Prongs.' James imitated in a high pitched voice that quite clearly didn't sound anything like Sirius.

'Oh look there's Evans!' Sirius said loudly, pointing behind his friend who turned around quickly, his hand automatically running through his hair in an attempt to make it look better. Sirius then burst into a hysterical display of laughter at his friend's actions.

'You are so _fucking _gullible Prongs.' Sirius laughed.

'I hate you!' James huffed.

'I love you too Prongsie-pie.' Sirius teased, throwing an arm around his friend's shoulders.

'I love you too Pads' James grinned.

'You're such a suck up Prongs.' Sirius joked and quickly dodged another smack from his best friend.

Needless to say, he and James continued their aimless wandering and ended up staying out most of the night. They were _very _late when they finally returned to the dorms that night but Sirius found that he didn't care how incredibly tired he would be in the morning. He finally felt like he had his best friend back. The real James...and that was definitely worth being tired for.

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

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	53. Chapter 53 Birthday, The Game and Ink

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Padfoot, Happy Birthday to you.' The other Marauders all sung from beside his bed. He couldn't believe it; they had actually all got up extra early just so they could make a point of waking him up.

'You know, I think you're getting that song confused with a Christmas song.' Sirius joked.

'Ha ha,' James said sarcastically. 'Up you get, we're going for an early birthday breakfast,' he added, flinging himself onto Sirius' bed to wait while he got ready.

'I think I'd rather just go back to sleep really.' He joked.

'You hardly ever sleep in Pads and you're not going to now just to make a point.' James huffed.

'Okay, Okay.' He replied admitting defeat and jumping out of bed.

They had then headed down to the Kitchens and as soon as they had entered Sirius had been surprised to find that his friends had clearly informed the House-Elves that they would be coming down and that it was to be a special occasion.

The House-Elves had set up a square table with a seat of each side and had attached birthday banners to it, which were in Gryffindor House colours. The table was filled with all of Sirius' favourite foods, and plenty of other treats as well as having a rather large chocolate cake set in the middle of the table. The cake had the number seventeen in the middle and Sirius couldn't help but smile at the sight.

'Guys...I...Thanks.' Sirius said weakly, feeling incredibly lucky to have such great friends. Sure they hadn't actually set it all up themselves, but they had made sure it _was _set up.

'No worries Pads.' James grinned happily.

'Yeah, we have presents too.' Pete added excitedly.

'And everyone knows that turning seventeen is a _very _important birthday.' Remus added.

'Except muggles, cus they don't think seventeen is important at all but-'

'-But _we _are not muggles, so _you _are in luck.' James laughed.

'Anyway, we are terribly sorry if our presents don't seem very good for such an important birthday-' Remus added in.

'_But' _James emphasised with a wide grin. 'You're going to get your _real _present-a joint one, mind-once we reach the summer holidays.'

'Yeah, it wouldn't be much use here anyway.' Pete added in.

'That and _some _of us aren't quite as rich as others.' Remus said with a pointed look at James although his tone was playful.

'I already told you I'm paying most of it anyways Moony!' James said in a frustrated voice.

'I'm just joking Prongs.' Remus replied, rolling his eyes.

'You don't need to spend lots of money on me,' Sirius said feeling incredibly awkward. 'I mean...I can't exactly do the same for you.' Sirius felt terrible, they were going to get him something expensive and he didn't have a Galleon to his name now that his family had disowned him.

'Don't be silly Padfoot.' James said, rolling his eyes much like Remus had just done ad Sirius wondered if it really was contagious...like yawning.

'Anyway, you should open your presents!' Pete said quickly, and Sirius was just away to state that there wasn't any here when James reached under the table and brought out three pillowcases. Sirius erupted into laughter instantly, every year it got him. After Sirius' birthday in their second year, his friends had taken to giving him his birthday presents inside pillowcases ever year as a sort of tribute to that day.

'A pillowcase...just what I wanted, thank you Prongs!' Sirius exclaimed loudly.

'Shut up Padfoot!' he laughed whilst handing the pillowcases to him.

He opened the first one to find that Pete had given him a large batch of Deluxe Sugar Quills and he couldn't possibly have explained how happy he felt, his eyes going wide in excitement as he thought how much better his classes would seem today now that he had Sugar Quills.

'Pete, you are amazing!' he grinned happily and Peter smiled back happily.

Remus' one was the next to be opened and Sirius couldn't help smiling as he took his present out of the pillowcase. It was such a simple gift, yet he was incredibly grateful for it regardless. The present was a Dream Catcher, in three colours – black, white and silver.

'Remy I...thank you.' He finished quietly; he couldn't possibly explain how much it meant to him. It wasn't expensive, it wasn't unusual and it wasn't something he would have ever asked for but it seemed...perfect. With all the nightmares Sirius had been having it was just what he needed, obviously it wouldn't _actually_ do anything to help him but the thought was enough to make it a nice gift anyway.

'No problem Siri,' Remus replied with a small smile.

'Okay...now Sirius try not to kill me okay.' James joked.

'I'll try,' Sirius joked back.

'I don't _actually _have anything for you...but trust me when you get your present from us in the summer – which, trust me, is costing _a lot _of money – you will be_ very_ grateful.'

'Okay,' Sirius said, feeling somewhat suspicious.

'So you're okay with that?'

'James, I wouldn't mind if I hadn't got anything at all from anyone...I don't really think birthdays are that big a deal anyway.' He shrugged.

'Okay, here you go then.' James said handing him the last pillowcase. Sirius felt confused but reached his hand into it and pulled out a piece of parchment. He unfolded it quickly and found that on the inside in ridiculously big writing were the words: "I James Potter owe you Sirius Black a kick-ass birthday present. This token must be redeemed in the summer in order to receive your present so keep it safe."

'Hey Remy, can you keep this for me.' Sirius laughed handing him the piece of paper and James quite loudly complained that Sirius was clearly cheating and that the point was that Sirius had to keep it himself without losing it.

The four Marauders had been quick to finish their birthday breakfast before heading up to their first class of the day – Transfiguration.

They had barely even sat down when Sirius quite loudly smashed his ink pot, throwing it down on the ground, and loudly saying;

'What the hell James! Just because I slagged of Lily doesn't mean you can break my things you git!' Sirius was managing to look genuinely annoyed and James gaped at him slightly before slamming his head down on the desk in frustration. They had only just started the class and Sirius had already initiated today's "game".

'Mr Potter, you should know better, by the time you reach your sixth year, than to damage the property of your fellow students. Regardless of any opinions he may have on Miss Evans.' Professor McGonagall said unhappily.

'I will be deducting five points from Gryffindor for your actions.' She said sternly before returning to her desk.

'That was unfair Pads, I was totally unprepared. I thought you'd take a day off on your birthday.' James huffed.

'Like I said, Prongs, I don't really care much for birthdays.' Sirius smirked.

'Oh well then, so you don't mind if I go out my way to get you in trouble today then?'

'Try me, James' Sirius smirked back and that was exactly what James did. The rules of their "game" were that; they could only involve another person's name into their attempts to get each other in to trouble only once per day. They had to take it in turns, meaning that they couldn't get each other in trouble more times than they themselves could get in trouble. And finally, that there was no other rules to abide by. The punishment for breaking these rules would be that they would have to loudly declare their love for Snape in the Great Hall whilst their fellow Marauders were all present.

It wasn't until they were just away to exit the Transfiguration class that James had said in a fairly loud voice;

'Sirius, you can't be serious! You can't take someone for a date in the Forbidden Forrest!'

'Mr Black, may I have a word please.' Proffesor McGonagall said sternly, fixing him with an unhappy glare.

'You're a git Prongs.' He muttered in amusement as the other Marauders all left the class trying their best not to laugh at him.

'So...what did she do?' Remus asked when Sirius sat down in his seat upon reaching Muggle Studies.

'She took ten house points Remy, ten!' he exclaimed unhappily and he sat flopped down onto his chair. 'James is gonna have the entire Gryffindor House out to get me at this rate!'

'What's your plan then Siri?' he inquired, eyebrow raised in amusement.

'Well my dearest Remy, I am going to take this further than ever before. I am going to take it to an entirely new and disgusting form of low.' He smirked.

'Which is?'

'Ah, you will find out...It will take place in Charms, I can tell you that much. It will be much funnier if you don't know...that way Prongs being sent to visit Dumbledore will be all the more amusing' Sirius smirked evilly.

'Should I be worried that you are _planning _on having your best friend sent to the Headmaster?' Remus sighed, sounding half amused and half exasperated by his friend's behaviour.

'Probably,' Sirius shrugged and the two young men burst into a fit of laughter that probably looked quite insane.

By the time it had reached lunch time Sirius was practically bouncing with anticipation for their later class. He hadn't even been paying proper attention when Pete had pointed out that James was worried by how long Sirius hadn't go him in trouble for.

'He should be worried.' Sirius grinned and James smirked back, looking incredibly excited and amused by their "game". But Sirius decided to temporarily make James less suspicious in order to make his later achievement all the more amusing.

'James no! I'm not going to risk being caught stealing ingredients just so _you _can make a Polyjuice Potion! I don't care how much you want to try and get up the stairs to the Girls' Dorms'.' Sirius said in a huffy voice as Professor Slughorn walked past them.

'Mr Potter, I am past _trying _to discipline you. I suggest you go find your Head of House and kindly explain _why _you have been sent up to see her. And, Mr Potter, I will be checking to make sure that you have went to see Professor McGonagall' He said knowingly before moving onwards to the staff table and James turned back to Sirius before they both erupted into giggles.

'Good one Pads, good one.'

When they finally reached the last class of the day Sirius had been extremely bouncy and had taken to sucking on one of his new Deluxe Sugar Quills, having already learnt the charm for the day – he had learnt and used the charm on Snape in their third year from a random book that had been left sitting in the Common Room and found it ridiculously simple now.

'I'm bored.' Sirius sighed.

'I want a Sugar Quill now that I can see you having one.' James complained back.

'Well you're not getting a suck of my Sugar Quill, Prongs.'

'Is that a Euphemism?' James muttered with a smirk and Sirius practically choked on his Sugar Quill. He certainly hadn't expected that. The whole class was now staring at them and James smirked all the more.

'That's not very nice Sirius, all I said was that we should try talking to Snape because he might be a genuinely nice person and you start making choking noises. I thought we were past being bullies now.' James said in an almost stage-like whisper and most of the class laughed.

'Pathetic Prongs,' he muttered. 'That wasn't anywhere near good enough to get me in trouble.' But Sirius realised, after seeing James' sudden smirk that he had just given James exactly what he had wanted all along. He had muttered quietly and James could pretend Sirius had said whatever he wanted now.

'Sirius! That's disgusting, Madame Pomfrey is most certainly _not _hot. I don't care if you have a thing for nurses,' James said loudly, pulling a look of disgust.

'Mr Black, five points from Gryffindor for your comments. Take note, I will also be informing your Head of House about this.'

'Bloody git' Sirius mumbled and James smirked wildly.

'Beat that, Pads...and thank you for your...eh..._compliment_' he laughed.

'Oh I will Prongs, I will.' He grinned back.

They had been five minutes away from the end of the school day – which was when they always ended their "game" -when Sirius had began prodding James in the side to get his attention.

'Is there something you want Padfoot.' He muttered in an irritated voice, if there was one thing James Potter hated – other than Snape, of course - it was being prodded, which Sirius knew all too well. He grinned, having the perfect opportunity to do as James had and make up what the other boy had muttered.

'James I am not being involved in this conversation. I don't want to talk about bestiality and I refuse to believe that Filch is into it.' Sirius said, just loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to have too obviously been drawing attention to himself. He gave James a disgusted look just to add a bit of effect and it worked perfectly.

'Mr Potter, you will be staying behind after class, we are going to visit the Headmaster.' Professor Flictwick said in a shaky voice his head also shaking, both in disapproval and disgust.

'You really are an arsehole, you know that.' James muttered, looking horrified. 'If my parents get contacted and told about this I _will _hunt you down.'

'And hit me with your Prongs? Prongs,' he laughed.

'You know, I think I'm just going to let Moony hurt you a bit more than usual next time we're out.' James joked but Sirius gave him a look that quite clearly said "shut up, that was a stupid comment" and looked along to check if Remus had been listening but he was too deep in a conversation with Lily Evans to have noticed, luckily.

Needless to say, when James Potter later arrived in their dormitory he had looked unimpressed.

'That was the most _awkward _conversation of my life Padfoot!' he said in a low and unhappy voice.

'You have to admit Prongs...you will struggle to _ever _beat that one.' Sirius grinned wildly.

'In all honesty I don't think you should ever _try _to beat that one,' Remus said from where he was currently sat at the head of Sirius' bed doing his Potions essay. 'I think your "game" is getting a bit out of hand.'

'But Moony, It's just a bit of fun.' James told him, flopping down onto Sirius' bed and making Remus spill his ink, engulfing the covers in dark black ink.

'Prongs you daft git.' Sirius moaned, now looking at his ink stained covers. 'You better find a spell to clean this up!' James groaned loudly in annoyance before standing up.

'Fine, fine. I'll be back soon...I'll go fine a spell in the library.'

'Or you could just go ask Flitwick.' Sirius suggested with a smirk.

'No! I can't even _look _at him right now. Not after what he thinks I said.' James rushed, shaking his head in an extremely fast motion.

'Okay dokes,' Sirius laughed and James headed for the door.

'Come with me Padfoot!'

'It's my birthday Prongs, I'm not going anywhere.' He laughed.

'Moony?'

'You've just wrecked his essay James, do you really think he's gonna go _anywhere _with you right now.' Sirius laughed.

'Pete?' he asked, turning towards their chubby friend with a big smile, one that admittedly looked rather fake.

'Fine, but only if we go to the Kitchens as well' Pete piped in. 'I fancy another bit of that cake.'

'Ooh, bring me some!' Sirius shouted and the two exiting Marauders laughed, nodding their head in agreement before closing the door behind them.

'Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday dear Sirius. Happy Birthday to me!' Sirius sang quietly, attempting to casually gain Remus' attention.

'I thought you didn't think birthdays were important.' Remus smiled at him.

'Maybe I'd like them better if I got another present.' Sirius laughed.

'Do you _really _think that's a good idea? We don't know how long they'll be and the last thing we need is them walking in and seeing us...up to stuff.'

'Well if I get my birthday kisses now instead of debating them then we'll have plenty of time.' Sirius grinned and Remus rolled his eyes at him.

'I'm covered in ink Siri.'

'I don't care.' Sirius shrugged, closing in on the other Marauder.

'Siri I-' But Sirius decided that Remus had been talking for _far _too long and quickly cut him off with a kiss. Funnily enough Remus didn't pull away or complain, kissing him back passionately. Sirius continued to push his friend downwards, until he was laid down entirely on Sirius' bed.

'Hurry up, Pete. We'll take ages as it is' came the voice of James Potter and Sirius had barely managed to scramble up and off of Remus before their fellow Marauders came back through the door with James looking incredibly irritated.

'Pete forgot his bloody wand!' James exclaimed and Peter blushed furiously, rushing to his bed quickly and grabbing his wand hurriedly.

'We'll be back soon, especially if Pete's forgot anything else.' James joked and the two boys headed back out the door once more.

Remus gave a sigh of relief and the two boys caught each other's eyes.

'That was _very_ close.' Remus said, giving Sirius a clear "I told you so" look.

'Yeah, well maybe I should have thought it through a bit more.' Sirius laughed, leaning forward to give Remus a quick peck on the lips. 'It was worth it.'

'We'll see how "worth it" you think it is when we get caught and have to have an incredibly awkward conversation with the others.'

'Technically they already know.'

'As far as James is considered Pete was wrong. He's determined that we're not gay. Specifically _you_.' Remus commented but Sirius had the feeling that James wasn't as bothered as they had first though, After all when he and James had talked he felt like there had been a lot of _reading between the lines_ to be done. Although he hadn't _actually _mentioned that conversation to Remus – having decided it was nice to have some things solely between him and James...was that selfish?

'Yeah well...that would be his problem then.' Sirius said, knowing full well that his friend didn't actually mind at all.

'Don't go doing anything stupid on a whim Sirius.'

'But Remy, doing stupid things on a whim is what I do best.' Sirius smirked, leaning forward once more to kiss his scarred friend.

'Clearly.' Remus said, rolling his eyes.

'It's my birthday Remy, I'm allowed to have my birthday wish come true.'

'You said you didn't make one Siri.'

'That's not the point!' Sirius laughed loudly before crawling forward to sit side by side with Remus. Fully intending to enjoy the short time he would have alone with his boyfriend.

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Kombinant**

**Neko Ninja Hezza**

**Siredna**

**Black_wind**

**GiggleNo9**

**I'd also like to say a thank you to photographwall and the garnetto who have recently reviewed earlier chapters...thank you for your reviews!**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	54. Chapter 54 Dark Magic and Detentions

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'You can't decide to curse someone just because you feel like it, Sirius!' James started angrily.

'Why not? You do,' Sirius said flippantly.

'No, I've used spells on people but I've _never_ messed with _actual_ curses and dark magic.' James said defensively.'

'Yeah, well I didn't do it _just_ because I felt like it anyway; I did it to teach that greasy git not to meddle in our business.' Sirius replied hotly as the four Marauders walked along the corridor.

'He was bleeding out his eyes Sirius! That's dark magic and not something I'd expect from you.' Remus added in looking disappointed and extremely worried.

'And you've just made things worse; he'll just be all the more suspicious now because _you _decided to get all over protective and offended.' James snapped in frustration.

'I didn't think about it, I just reacted.' Sirius said quietly, feeling terrible for most likely making Snape even more curious about Remus' disappearances than he already was.

Snape had been making random comments about Remus' disappearances for the past two months and Sirius had been feeling more stressed each time he mentioned it.

'Do you realise how much trouble you could have got us all in? If Remus hadn't known the counter curse then we would have been in serious trouble Sirius. That wasn't some low-level hex that the teachers would have ignored, it could have had you suspended...or even excluded altogether. You know dark magic is right at the top of things that are against the school rules, it's the section even _we _have never broken before.' James was ranting.

'I'm sorry, okay! I didn't think about it...I just did what I thought I had to do.'

'And if we hadn't used a counter-curse the bleeding would have got worse, and worse. Do you even realise how badly that curse can end?' James snapped, apparently it was okay to bully someone for no reason, but when Sirius was actually _defending _Remus from the greasy git James had suddenly developed a conscious.

'I'm sorry but-'

'-No you're not Pads, that's what's so bad. You wouldn't hesitate to do it again if he pushed you.'

'I'm not going to let that stupid git mess things up for him!' Sirius snapped, gathering unwanted attention from passing students as he did.

'What's worse then, eh? Having Remus not stay at school or having Snape dead?' James asked, his voice now lowered to avoid attention.

'It wasn't ever going to kill him, James,' Sirius said in a bored voice, beginning to feel incredibly frustrated with his friend.

'Yeah, well maybe that one won't...but who knows what it'll be next time?'

'I'm not a bloody murderer, James!' Sirius hissed angrily.

'I'm beginning to wonder just how well I really know you Sirius.' James said quietly, his voice unsure and worried.

'D'you know what James, I don't care. Yeah, I hurt the guy. Yeah, I'd have left him to bleed without caring but it's not because I'm some soulless demon. It's because at the end of the day you guys come first, before anything else. I would give _anything _to stop him from revealing Remus, and whether you like it or not I will do whatever it takes to keep Remus safe.'

'Regardless of how it affects the rest of us, how it affects you even?' James asked harshly and Sirius wanted nothing more than to hit his messy haired friend at that point.

'Whatever James, I don't really feel like having this conversation now.'

'Yeah, I suppose the fact that I'm _supposed _to be your best friend counts for nothing.' James sniped.

'What the hell is that supposed to mean?'

'Nothing,' James said bitterly and Sirius turned away from them and began walking away.

'Sirius you can't just walk away!' James shouted down the corridor towards him.

He then walked in the opposite direction from his friends and headed up towards Gryffindor Tower, he wasn't really in the mood for Honeydukes now anyway.

'Sirius! Sirius wait up.' Remus called, sounding slightly out of breath just before he reached the Portrait Hole.

'You should have gone with them Remus,' Sirius stated simply, heading towards the stairs leading up to their dorm.

'You!' a voice shrieked on his left hand side and he turned to see a furious Lily Evans attempting to tower over him.

'Yes, Petal?' he asked politely, but in a tone that suggested anything she had to say would be wasted at that current moment.

'How dare you! I heard what you did; the first years came running in here talking about it... they were _terrified, _Black.' Sirius felt his jaw clench slightly in irritation at her words. He hated people referring to him as "Black" as if that was all there was to him; he hated that no matter what he would always be associated with his family. That he would always have that name said in a disgusted tone when he did something people didn't approve of.

'Oh shut up Evans, you don't even hang about with that greasy git anymore so you have _no _right to complain.'

'I have a right to report you! A duty in fact, as a Prefect - and so does Remus, although you clearly have him too frightened to actually report you for anything!'

'Don't-you-dare-Evans.' Sirius growled through gritted teeth.

'Sirius-' Remus began worriedly from behind him.

'-No! I won't have her speaking to me like that.'

'What, are you going to curse me too?' she said haughtily and Sirius could feel every set of eyes in the Common Room watching them now.

'I bloody well might do it just to shut you up!' Sirius growled.

'What did I touch a nerve? Because I can't see any other reason why he _wouldn't_ have reported you. He'd have done it a _long _time ago if you hadn't frightened him into silence.' Sirius pulled his wand out quickly, pointing it straight in Lily's face with a cold glare.

'Don't-You-Ever,' he growled. 'Don't you _dare_ accuse me of frightening him into silence. I would _never _do anything to make him frightened of me,' he could feel his fury building as her words rang over and over in his mind. He would _never_ make Remus scared of him.

'Sirius-' Remus said, clearly hoping to calm him slightly.

'-How can you just stand there and do nothing?' Lily asked furiously, spinning on the spot to face Remus. 'How can you just watch as he get more and more out of control by the day? If he was a dog he would have been put down by now!'

'Enough Lily!' Remus said firmly, his expression showing that he was not going to debate his reasoning with her. 'That is enough, you've had your say now leave him be.'

'You might be willing to stand by and do nothing now, but you'll regret it when he goes getting himself into a real mess because he'll drag _you _right into it with him.'

'Good night, Lily,' Remus said with a tone of finality before grabbing Sirius by the arm and pulling him away from her and towards the stairs.

'Thanks Remy,' Sirius said awkwardly as he sat down on his bed, but Remus didn't join him and had chosen to sit on his own bed.

'Don't thank me Sirius, she's right...I should have reported you.' Sirius felt horrible at that moment; surely Remus wasn't _actually _frightened by him like Lily had said.

'I've never done anything with the intention of scaring you Remy,' Sirius said, feeling slightly hurt.

'I _know _that Sirius, she was wrong about that, I'm not scared of you...I never have been. It's the complete opposite...I'm scared _for _you. I doubt you would _ever _do something with the intention of hurting or frightening me. What I mean is that I understand why she thinks the way she is. She's just trying to think of a logical reason why I wouldn't have reported you by now.'

'You really think I should be reported?' Sirius asked feeling hurt even more.

'I _think _that if I had seen any other student perform that curse on someone in a corridor I would have reported them immediately. I would have thought that they were clearly out of control and a danger to other students and that it would be irresponsible to _not _report them' Sirius remained silent, unsure what to say in reply to Remus' comments.

'But it's different with you, Sirius,' Remus said, sounding incredibly frustrated. 'I _know _you're not a bad person. Not really, you just don't think before you act.'

'Remy, I know I-'

'Let me finish Sirius, I Know that you're not a bad person...but you're doing a fair job of acting like one. I don't pretend to understand it but...there's something different about you now. Something I couldn't possibly hope to explain...and it worries me because last year you were perfectly fine and then...then you and James turned into bullies, you were humiliating students and using spells on them as if it was some practical joke. But _even _then, it was frustration and annoyance that I felt. But now...now I'm frightened Sirius.'

'Frightened of what? Me?' Sirius choked out.

'No, frightened _for _you, because back then you were doing it all as an act for James. But now...now this is entirely you, James doesn't want anything to do with dark magic Sirius and until now I didn't think you did either.'

'I don't! I didn't even mean to, I just...I did the first thing that popped into my head.'

'That's worrying enough on its own Sirius. That dark magic could pop into your head to carelessly.'

'I'm not going to apologise for what I did, Remy.' Sirius said firmly.

'I didn't think you would, in all honesty.' Remus sighed.

'I'm not sorry Remy, I'm not sorry for doing what I had to do to shut him up. He was getting a bit too loud for in the corridors and I'm not gonna risk him blowing your secret.'

'My secret isn't more important than you're morality!' Remus shouted unexpectedly and Sirius felt incredibly irritated. His moral conscious was _not _more important than keeping Remus safe and at Hogwarts.

'I'm sorry okay.' Sirius lied angrily, knowing that Remus would only be more upset that he was bothering to lie.

'No Sirius. No you're not.' Remus replied quietly, no longer looking at him directly.

'I'm going for a walk.' Sirius said quietly, feeling incredibly hurt that Remus was being so distant with him.

He needed to do this, needed to protect Remus from the all the prejudice that would be thrown in his direction as soon as he was revealed as a Werewolf to the public. He couldn't stand the idea of Remus being treated unfairly for something he had absolutely _no _control over.

He headed to the viaduct and stood for a long time, staring out at the scenery around them. Thinking things over.

'Sirius!' A voice called out and he turned to see James rushing forward looking far from happy.

'James I don't want to argue with you...' he began with a sigh.

'I'm not here for an argument. I'm here to tell you that McGonagall wants us both in her office, now.' He said looking worried.

'Why?'

'Lily reported you, and I'm being brought in with you because I was involved in the argument before you cursed him' James said quickly.

'_Bitch_' Sirius muttered angrily.

'Sirius!' James said looking quite offended.

'She is James, she's an annoying cow and I've had enough of her.' He muttered angrily.

'She's just doing what she thinks is right.'

'Yeah, well I've had enough of her. She needs to decide whether she wants to be friends or enemies cus one minute she's hanging around like a bad smell, being all nosy and trying to act like we're all the best of friends and the next minute she's reporting us as if she thinks we're the scum of the earth.'

'She doesn't have anyone else to hang around now Sirius. Even then she only hangs around if she's talking to Remus and...' but James broke of a look of realisation dawning on him.

'Are you _jealous?'_ James said looking quite surprised but fairly sure of himself.

'Bugger off James, I'm not jealous of that stupid cow.' He muttered angrily and headed off in the direction of McGonagall's office.

'Sirius, wait up.' James called and rushed after him.

When they reached McGonagall's office Sirius was unhappy to see Lily Evans standing there looking extremely awkward, after having just told her knowledge of the events.

'I'm sorry, but it was the right thing to do.' She said quietly to them as she walked out the door.

Professor McGonagall fixed them with a stony expression and told them to sit down. They did so immediately, deciding it best not to anger her further. He could feel James look at him apprehensively as if begging him not to say anything stupid.

'I trust you know why I have brought you here.' The two boys nodded in return and Sirius forced himself to remain quiet.

'I do not even _want _to know where you learnt that curse, Mr Black. But I assure you that your parents will be informed of this event.'

'I don't live with them now,' Sirius stated. 'Don't tell them, they would only find it highly amusing that I'd sunk to their level.' Professor McGonagall looked at him steadily and for a split second Sirius swore he saw pity in her eyes.

'I see, and where exactly do you live now?' She asked quietly.

'With James, but don't send word to his parents. Please.' He pleaded. The last thing he wanted was for the Potter's to feel disappointed in him.

'I trust that you realise how serious I am going to take this. You are currently standing on the edge of a _very _thin line Mr Black. Anymore attacks like this could lead to your immediate suspension.'

'Yes, Professor.' He said in a quiet voice. She then turned towards James with an exasperated look.

'Mr Potter, although you didn't _use_ any curses yourself, you were seen participating in an argument with Mr Snape and were apparently heard making threats.'

'I didn't make any threats Professor; it's just people trying to fuel more gossip.' James said truthfully.

'Well, I'm afraid the constant trouble you two seem to cause is getting to be a problem.'

'Sorry Professor,' they chorused and she didn't look like she believed them in the slightest.

'You will both be attending detention.' She told them firmly. 'I will arrange the rest of Mr Black's detentions over the next few days but the two of you will spend Thursday evening in detention with me.'

'Professor, James didn't do anything wrong, you shouldn't put him in detention.' Sirius rushed suddenly.

'I admire your loyalty Mr Black but Mr Potter will be serving detention alongside you. I advise you to now return to your dormitories and stay out of trouble.' She warned them.

They had just got out the room and closed the door behind them when James voice echoed the one thought that was currently running through Sirius own mind.

'Thursday night is the full moon.'

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Siredna**

**xharrypotterismylifex**

**SweetoothMegs**

**Kombinant**

**Neko Ninja Hezza**

**GiggleNo9**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	55. Chapter 55 Big Mistakes

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

They had returned to their dorm only to find that Remus and Peter were not there and had quickly used the Marauders Map to locate them. Finding them sitting in the library with Lily Evans. Sirius had felt his blood boil instantly and had headed straight for the library, James in tow as he did.

'EVANS, YOU STUPID _FUCKING _COW!' Sirius shouted angrily as he entered the Library, not caring in the slightest that Madame Pince looked ready to kill him. All three people at the table looked up at this each wearing an uneasy expression.

'Sirius, calm down.' Remus told him, standing up quickly and looking worried by his friend's actions. But Sirius ignored Remus' words and continued on.

'Do you have _any _idea what a bitch you are?' he added furiously. 'You just got us landed in detention on Thursday.'

'Thursday...' Remus said weakly, looking crushed.

'Yeah, that stupid fucking-'

'Oh learn some new words Black.'

'Learn to keep your fucking nose out of other people's business.'

'Keep your voices _down_,' Madame Pince hissed angrily. 'This is a _library_.'

'I was just doing what I had to do; it's my duty as a Prefect-' Lily started again, ignoring the Librarian.

'-It was my duty as a _fucking _friend to curse that son of a bitch for pestering Remus, but that doesn't matter in the world of Lily _fucking _Evans. No, all that matters is that everything is all bright and sunny with rainbows and clouds made of candy floss and everyone hugging babies and puppy dogs. You need to get off your high horse and live in the real world Evans. The world isn't full of rainbows and bunny rabbits, the world is full of arseholes and people like me that are trying to stop bad things from happening to people'

'Oh shut up Black, you're far more on your high horse than I am. You act like you're some great defender, but you're a joke. You're nothing more than a thug, a bully even. This isn't about Remus; you don't care about him at all, all you care about is finding excuses to go after Snape.' Sirius drew his wand furiously, instantly pointing it straight in her face.

'Don't you _dare _say I don't care about Remus.' He snarled angrily and everyone froze, apparently terrified of what Sirius might do.

'Sirius, calm down.' Remus said slowly but more firmly this time, moving towards him carefully.

'No! I'm sick of people treating me like shit! I only did these things for you Remy, to protect you.' He said, feeling his throat constrict with emotion.

'I know Siri, I know.' He said quietly, looking quite taken aback by Sirius' sudden emotion.

'You can't just act like he isn't doing these things, Remus.' Lily said looking incredibly frustrated.

'Lily shut up.' Remus said unexpectedly and everyone looked genuinely shocked. Remus never spoke like that to people. 'I don't expect you to understand but trust me I neither want to nor need your advice.' Lily looked genuinely shocked by his words and was looking at the others as if asking for some form of help.

'Lily please, can you just...just give us some time alone.' James said quietly and Lily looked at him carefully before finally nodding her head and leaving them.

'Like I said, he's going to drag you all into his mess one day.'

'Can you please keep your personal problems out of my Library?' Madame Pince said waspishly and they all gathered their things before quickly leaving the library-after being told that they were, for the time being, banned from the library-and rushing into the first empty classroom that they found.

'I can't believe you did that Siri,' Remus said quietly, sitting down beside him on one of the many unoccupied desks. The others were quick to join them and Sirius sighed in frustration at everything that was happening.

'I can't believe her, she's landed us in detention and now you're going to be alone on the full moon because of it.'

'She wasn't to know Sirius; even now all she thinks is that you're angry because you won't get to see me before I leave. She doesn't know that you lot usually accompany me. I've managed the full moon plenty of times on my own and I can manage it on Thursday.'

'But you shouldn't have to!' Sirius said firmly, feeling even more frustrated after hearing the pale young man's words.

'I'll still be there.' Pete said weakly but all Marauders shook their heads at him.

'Don't be so bloody stupid Pete.' Sirius snapped at the chubby boy, gaining a disapproving look from Remus.

'I couldn't let you Pete,' Remus began in a kinder tone than the one Sirius had just displayed. 'It would be too dangerous for you to be on your own with me. I doubt I'd even let one of _them_ be alone with me in my transformed state. It's far too risky.'

'I suppose you're right, I just wanted to help.' Pete explained sadly and Remus nodded.

'I'll be fine,' Remus said again, but it seemed more like he was trying reassure himself than them and Sirius felt sickened by it. It was due to _his _reckless actions against Snape that Remus would now have to suffer. He was likely to bite and scratch himself to bits without them there to stop him and gain his attention. The wolf side of Remus was definitely _not _going to be happy about this.

By the time Thursday had rolled around Sirius was so incredibly frustrated that he had continuously snapped at people all day and even James and Peter had became rather quiet in order to try to avoid arguments. Everyone seemed quite determined not to be on the wrong side of Sirius that day and he had even noticed that the teachers seemed to be nicer to him, clearly thinking there was something going on in Sirius' head that was making him such a mess. They probably though it was something to do with his stupid _family_.

He had eventually gotten so annoyed with the way he was being treated on top of everything else that he had skipped his afternoon classes, something he knew Remus would reprimand him for later, and had began wandering aimlessly around the grounds with the Marauder's Map in order to make sure he wasn't spotted by a teacher.

It wasn't until he noticed a label reading "Severus Snape" hanging around outside the hospital wing that Sirius realised he wasn't the only person not currently in their Charms class. He immediately felt his fury rise, he had used seriously dark magic on the greasy boy and he was _still _sneaking about trying to find out Remus' secret. The guy was far too persistent for Sirius' liking.

He quickly headed up to the Hospital Wing where he found Severus Snape lurking about suspiciously. The greasy haired boy seemed to be trying to peer into the Hospital Wing and Sirius realised with a start that it would not be good for Remus' cover up story if Snape saw him and was able to spread word that Remus had, in fact, _not _been away from the school.

'What are you doing here Snape?' Sirius asked his voice now low and threatening.

'I could ask you the same thing,' Snape replied in a rather monotonous tone. He was clearly trying to cover up the fact that Sirius had frightened him a few days previously with his knowledge of dark magic. But Sirius gripped his wand in his pocket, he knew Snape well enough to know that Snape knew more dark magic than Sirius, and was quite capable of using it if he felt particular need to.

'Look, I don't want a fight so just leave.' Sirius warned him but Snape seemed to take no notice.

'I've been talking to your brother you know.' He smirked cruelly. 'We had quite an interesting conversation actually, he told me some things about you...some things about Lupin as well.' Sirius felt himself tense but tried his best to ignore it.

'If you believe anything that idiot says then you're even more gullible than I though.'

'Well I'll admit some on the things sounded a bit far-fetched,' Snape smirked at him.

'I'm not in the mood for games Snape, now bugger off.' He growled.

'Why should I? What's so important that you don't want me to see? I suppose the fact that Lupin was absent from classes today, once gain I might add, has absolutely nothing to do with it.'

'Trust me Snape; you really don't want to piss me off right now.' Sirius warned him, feeling his frustration grow with each word the greasy haired boy spoke.

'Maybe I'll just hang around and see for myself what he has to do with you wanting me to leave.' Snape smirked. Sirius felt his brain go into panic mode at Snape's words. It would only be a few hours until Remus would leave the hospital wing and head out to the Shrieking Shack, then Snape could put it all together and share Remus' secret with the population of Hogwarts.

'You really wanna know what he's got to do with it?' Sirius growled and Snape seemed to be hanging eagerly on his every word. 'Well why don't you follow them-Remus and Pomfrey-they'll head down to the Whompping Willow, there's a knot on the tree and all you need to do get a long stick and prod it. The tree will open up and lead into a secret passage. We'll see how funny you think it all is then, you snivelling git.'

Snape seemed unsure whether or not to trust him but Sirius figured he would quite likely follow them out of curiosity. This way Snape would go all the way, be faced with a ferocious Werewolf who couldn't control his actions and that would be the end of Snape. Snape would no longer be around to tell his suspicions of Remus to the population of Hogwarts and Remus wouldn't get into trouble because he couldn't control his actions and Snape had went into the passage of his own free will.

Snape turned and left, most likely to grab something to eat before returning to where he now stood, and Sirius felt slightly anxious. This could get him in a lot of trouble if anyone found it was _him _who had sent Snape down there.

Maybe Remus was right, maybe it _was_ worrying how quickly he came up with these ideas and Sirius felt slightly uneasy. He had quite calmly convinced himself into believing that sacrificing Snape's life was for the best. But he couldn't break his resolve, not now. He had to let Snape go, he had to let Snape be killed, for Remus. It would all be worth it if Remus wouldn't be forced to leave school. If he could have a normal life for that little bit longer, if anyone deserved _that_ then Remus did.

He was quite quick in meeting up with the other two Marauders and together they went to the Kitchens to have their meal before Peter headed up for the dormitories and the other two boys headed for their detention.

They had got there on time, which Sirius assumed Professor McGonagall to be quite surprised by, and quickly took the seats she had designated for them at opposite sides of the classroom. Professor McGonagall's detentions were never cruel or hard, they were far worse than that. They were plain boring, which meant that time seemed to pass at such a slow rate that it felt far longer than it actually was. Today they had each been given parchment and ink and quills to write with. They were to write out a passage from that Sirius quite clearly remembered from their book for Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was a passage detailing the dangers of dark magic for both yourself and those around you. Sirius figured she had picked it to make a point to him and he found it incredibly annoying.

They had been there for what seemed like an eternity before Professor Flitwick had arrived to inform her that he had a fourth year student from her house outside the classroom whom had been told to report to her after getting into a fight with one of his dorm mates.

'I will be back in a few minutes, I expect you continue with your detention work until I come back.' She informed them before leaving the classroom.

'Does that mean we can stop when she comes back?' Sirius joked, turning around to face James with a grin on his face.

'If she sees you turned around when she gets back you are going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble.' James grinned back.

'Most likely,' he replied in a flippant tone.

'Where did you go earlier on? James asked curiously. 'I figured you might go to see Remus...but then after class I realised my cloak was still in my trunk so I suppose not.'

'No...I didn't really want to see him, I...I couldn't bear the idea of seeing him so scared. He'll be really worried about tonight, in case he hurts himself really badly.'

'So where did you go?' James continued, clearly not wanting to linger on their sad conversation.

'Just wandered about the grounds really...'

'So you didn't see Snape?'

'Why?' Sirius asked feeling curious, wondering what was going through James' head.

'It's just; he wasn't in Charms this afternoon either.' James said with slight suspicion in his voice as he told Sirius about him.

'Yeah will you should get used to it. I doubt you'll be seeing him in Charms again.' Sirius said darkly and James' face immediately contained a great deal of worry at his words.

'What have you done Sirius?'

'I did what needed to be done.' Sirius said quietly.

'Sirius, this better not be some cruel joke,' James said looking quite anxious.

'It's not a joke, that stupid git was hanging around outside the Hospital Wing, trying to find proof against Remus.'

'What did you do?' James said suddenly looking panic-stricken.

'I gave him what he wanted, information. Told him where he could go for his evidence – the Whompping Willow. We won't need to worry about him revealing Remus if he's not actually around _to _reveal it.' Sirius told him.

'You idiot! He's going to be mauled to death Sirius!'

'That _was _the general idea James.' Sirius said haughtily.

'You can't justify killing someone Sirius! You didn't even think about what this would do to Remus, did you?'

'It won't do anything; Snape went of his own free will so Remus can't be blamed.'

'I'm not just talking about him getting in trouble with the authorities Sirius, which he will.'

'No he won't Snape went of his own free will James, plus Remus can't control it.'

'You really think the Ministry will wait around excuses and explanations Sirius?' James said angrily.'

'I-'

'That's not all Sirius, what about the fact that Remus is going to wake up tomorrow and find that he's killed someone, it's practically his worst nightmare. He's been terrified it would happen ever since he started at Hogwarts.'

'I...' But Sirius felt himself freeze slightly. 'I didn't think about it...'

'You never do, do you. All you think about is yourself; you're so incredibly stupid Sirius, you never think anything through you just do things and now you've done something you can't ever erase. I hope you can live with yourself after this.' And with that James ran out of the classroom at top speed, most likely to inform a teacher of what was happening– or so he had assumed.

**I have posted a one-shot today as well...not really anything to do with this story but I thought I'd mention it and tell you all to read it if you can :) Hopefully you will like it...It's SBRL as well :P**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Neko Ninja Hezza**

**SweetoothMegs**

**Giggle No9**

**And I would also like to say a quick thank you to the garnetto for reviewing an earlier chapter!**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	56. Chapter 56 Even Bigger Regrets

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently, this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

Sirius had been called to the Headmaster's office in the late hours of the night and had been escorted there by a positively _livid _Professor McGonagall. He hadn't managed to sleep anyway, not knowing that Remus could have killed Snape by now.

When they entered the Headmaster's Office he found that there were already three people in the room – Dumbledore, James and Snape.

'I do not doubt you already know the reason why you have been summoned to my office.' Dumbledore said calmly and Sirius wondered how he could remain so calm in such an event.

'Yes Sir.' Sirius said quietly, he couldn't quite tell if he was relieved or not to see Snape alive and...sort of well.

'Mr Black I must impress upon you the seriousness of your actions. Not only could they have resulted in the death of Severus Snape, your fellow classmate, but you also put Remus Lupin at incredible risk from the ministry. If things had went as _you _had clearly planned and they were to find out about tonight's events then they would most likely have collected him first thing in the morning and there is no telling how they would have chosen to punish him' Sirius felt sickened. He had thought that Remus would remain blameless due to it being beyond his control.

'However, I am sure you will be relieved to know that I have _not _informed the Ministry of tonight's events and Mr Lupin will recieve no punishment for your actions' Sirius nodded his head slowly, feeling horrified by what could have happened to Remus.

'But they tried to kill me!' Snape spat furiously, clearly _very _angry that it hadn't been reported.

'On the contrary Mr Snape in fact, I believe that you owe a great deal of thanks to Mr Potter. If it were not for his bravery and selfless behaviour then you may not have been sitting here with us now.'

'He was involved in this Professor, I know he was! Neither of them ever pulls these things without the other knowing.'

'Shut up Snape, you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.' Sirius snapped at the greasy boy. He was _not _going to let James get blamed for this with him.

'Enough.' Dumbledore said firmly and they all looked towards the ageing wizard.

'This is far beyond any of your previous schoolboy squabbles. I don't want to hear of _any _more incidents involving the three of you.' Dumbledore said clearly, looking at each of them before stopping once Snape. 'I want your word Severus that you will not tell anyone of what you seen tonight. Revealing Remus Lupin would be an incredible injustice and would be catastrophic to his future life.'

'I could have died!' Snape said disbelievingly.

'That was nothing to do with Remy okay! That was entirely me; _I'm _the one who set it all up. They didn't know anything about it and I swear if you so much as hint anything about Remus-'

'Both of you stop!' James shouted unexpectedly. 'This is how it all started in the first place. Snape, just agree not to say anything. Sirius shut up and calm down.'

'Mr Potter is correct, and I do not want a repeat of this event. I want your word Mr Snape.' He said calmly.

'You have my word.' Snape said bitterly and Sirius had to watch as Dumbledore allowed him be escorted back to his own dormitory.

'I trust you understand the gravity of this situation.' Dumbledore said sadly and the two remaining young men nodded in return.

'Professor, when will Remus be brought in?' James asked quietly and Sirius found himself unable ask anything himself, completely worried out his mind for Remus. He was going to be _so _worried and upset when he woke up.

'I understand that the two of you must be incredibly worried. I will be sure to awake you when he returns.' He then turned to face Sirius. 'I think Mr Lupin deserves to hear tonights events from you.'

'Yes Sir.'

'You may return to your dormitories now to get whatever sleep you can.' But Sirius knew he wouldn't get any sleep, in fact, he doubted that James would get much sleep either.

They had arrived back in the dormitory after walking in an uncomfortable silence and Sirius felt incredibly awkward.

'James what...what happened after you left?' Sirius asked.

'I went down to the Whomping Willow, Snape had already entered it and...I hurried in, along the passage. I only just managed to make him move in time. But he...he got a glimpse of Remus, he was already transformed and...and it was horrible Sirius. I couldn't even transform myself cus Snape was there, I could have died, Sirius. Snape and I both.'

'I'm sorry James, I didn't expect you to get involved and I...I didn't realise how much trouble Remus could get in.'

'Anything else?' James said emotionlessly but Sirius said nothing. 'You're sorry for all that, but you're not sorry for nearly killing Snape.' he asked disbelievingly.

'James I...'

'Don't bother Sirius.' He said harshly and Sirius felt completely cut off. James had never sounded so harsh with him before. 'And Sirius, don't bother coming to the Hospital Wing tomorrow. Dumbledore doesn't know Remus like I do, you shouldn't be there. It will only make things worse.'

Sirius felt an instant pang in his chest. James may as well have cursed him; it would have hurt less than his words.

Sirius didn't even venture from his bed the next day. He had completely avoided going to any of his classes and had remained sitting in silence the whole day, wondering what was going through Remus' head at those exact moments. Imagining the scarred young man sitting all alone in the Hospital Wing while the others were at classes.

It wasn't until the end of the day that James and Peter appeared, dumping all their school things in the dormitory and Sirius decided that he _needed_ to know how things had went that morning.

'James' Sirius began weakly but James didn't even acknowledge him and Peter just stood by looking between them uncomfortably.

'James, I know I fucked up big time but please don't ignore me.' He said quietly, feeling incredibly hurt. 'Or at least...at least tell me how things went with Remus this morning.'

'I'm not sure you deserve to know anything really, you deserve to sit there not knowing what happened and let your conscience eat at you. If you _have _one that is.'

'James, please...I can't bear not knowing.' He whispered, trying to not to let the desperation show in his voice. James sighed apparently frustrated with his inability to stay incredibly mad at Sirius.

'I know you care a lot about him and...and I want you to realise how much of an arsehole you were. I want you to know that he is completely and utterly devastated by this Sirius.' James said truthfully, making sure to look directly at him and make sure he knew just how bad he had made things.

'He's horrified,' James continued sadly. 'Horrified because he nearly _killed _someone and crushed that _you_ were the one to betray him like that. He cried Sirius, when he found out what had happened. He actually cried Sirius, right in front of us and I realised I had absolutely no _idea _how to comfort him. That hurt Siri, not knowing what to do...knowing there wasn't really anything that I _could _do'

Sirius had felt instantly repulsed by his own actions. He had _never _wanted to hurt Remus, let alone make him cry. But that was exactly what he had done; _he _was the one who had reduced Remus to that state and it was the worst feeling he could imagine.

'I-I need to go apologise, m-make him understand. I need to _fix _things.'

'THERE IS NOT FIXING THINGS SIRIUS!' James shouted in disbelief before lowering his voice once more. 'You betrayed him, he _really _trusted you...far more than he _ever_ trusted me or Pete. You were always the one he trusted the most, ever since first year and you continued to prove yourself, gaining more and more of his trust over the years and now...now you just went and threw it away, destroyed it in a matter of minutes. I don't even want to imagine how devastated he must feel right now; how much of a fucking mess his head must be right now'

'Then why the hell are you here James?' Sirius snapped. 'If I can't fucking go to him and make him feel better then _you _bloody well should be.'

'And what am I supposed to say to him? What do you say to someone who just lost their faith in the one person they thought they could _truly _depend on?' Sirius only felt worse at James words but he wasn't going to give in now.

'You say something! Or at the least you should just be there, sitting by his side. Maybe you won't have anything to say, maybe he won't either. But that's not the point, the point is that you should be there; you don't need to _say _anything. You just need to...just be there for him.' Sirius ended, feeling extremely upset that Remus would be feeling so isolated and that his friend's hadn't even had the courage to go see him, to at least try to help in some way. He sat down on his bed once more feeling incredibly drained.

'He's getting released tomorrow.' James told him quietly, sitting next to Sirius on the four-poster bed.

'Tomorrow? Why tomorrow? Why not today?' Sirius asked frantically, feeling his heart rate speed up in panic.

'He's a bit of a mess Sirius, after all...he was practically teased with two humans in the shrieking shack, but we managed to get away.' Sirius paled, feeling sick. He understood exactly what had happened. The Werewolf would have bitten and scratched himself even more than usual in frustration, tormented by not managing to get the two young men.

'H-How bad is it?' Sirius whispered, feeling as if he could very well be sick at any given moment.

'Pretty bad,' James admitted. 'He got a bit of a fright when he woke up this morning, in the hospital wing instead of the shack and to find himself even more of a mess than usual, especially with us around him.' Sirius nodded dumbly, wishing nothing more than to run straight down to the Hospital Wing and hold his Remy tightly in his arms.

'And do you know what the most heart-breaking thing was Sirius?' James said looking on the verge of tears himself. Sirius didn't reply but James continued on anyway. 'He woke up, and you weren't there...the first thing he thought was that you'd went there on your own and got hurt, he was _terrified _that he'd hurt you...but he hadn't because you hadn't sneaked off from detention and snuck down there...you'd sent someone else there deliberately instead, knowing they could die.'

'I'd give anything to be able to take it back James,' Sirius told him weakly, trying not to succumb to his emotions, and there was certainly no lack of those!

'Well, you should have thought of that sooner Sirius,' James said harshly and Sirius flinched, feeling his eyes sting. He blinked rapidly to rid himself of the feeling. After all, he was Sirius Black and Sirius Black _never _cried. James looked instantly sorry for making Sirius flinch; he hadn't even had to _touch _him after all.

'I'm gonna go see Remus, okay?' James told him quietly and Sirius nodded feeling slightly better at knowing that they would make Remus feel marginally better. James got up and headed to the door with Peter moving to follow.

'James,' he called and the messy haired young man turned towards him with mixed emotions on his face. 'Take this for him.' He said quietly, and opened his bedside cabinet, taking out a Chocolate Frog and throwing it towards James.

The look on James face was one of great surprise, and he gave Sirius a small, sad smile before nodding and heading out the door.

He didn't move from his spot on the bed the rest of the night, not bothering to open the bed hangings when he heard James and Peter had returned. And so he sat, wide awake, in complete in utter silence until the early hours of the morning when he heard the door creak open awkwardly and heard the familiar slow steps of Remus Lupin.

'Remus I-' he started, pulling back the bed hangings quickly. But he stopped short upon seeing _his_ Remy with brand new scars - another one on his face that had been due to Sirius - and such a hurt expression in his eyes that Sirius found it impossible to summon any words.

'Don't Sirius, please. I don't want to hear your excuses.' He said quietly, no longer looking at him and with his head hung low.

'Remus please,' he begged, crossing the room to stand side by side with the pale young man. 'I swear if I could find a bloody time turner I'd change things. I would. I never meant for you to get hurt-'

'-No you just planned the murder of another human being, that's much better.' Remus said with sarcasm evident in his shaky voice. 'Why Sirius? What could possibly have made you think that it was acceptable to send someone to their death?'

'I was trying to protect you! He was trying to uncover your secret; he would have revealed it to everyone!'

'So you thought the best course of action was to send him into the clutches of a Werewolf!' Remus shouted furiously and Sirius felt himself flinch unintentionally, he _hated _to hear Remus so angry with him.

'I couldn't think of anything else that I _could _do!' he rushed, trying to explain his actions. 'I didn't have time to think of some _master _plan. I just wanted him to be gone, so we could just go back to normal. I just wanted it to all be over.' He said, his voice cracking slightly with emotion.

'How can you be so heartless?' Remus asked looking incredibly frustrated with him and seeming to have only got more upset when Sirius' voice had cracked. 'I can't do this Sirius; I can't just stand by every time you do something in an attempt to _protect _me. I...I can't do this...' he said, tears welling up in his eyes and a glimpse of terror evident at his own words. 'I'm sorry Sirius.' He whispered, and with those last words he turned and rushed back out of the room leaving Sirius feeling completely horrified.

Couldn't do what anymore? Couldn't let Sirius act like this anymore or couldn't be _them _anymore? He realised that the answer was pretty obvious - it was over; Remus had said he couldn't do this anymore. His mind went into overdrive, a million thoughts rushing through his head in a single moment.

'Siri,' James' voice whispered tentatively, stepping from his bed and walking towards him and Sirius felt James come up behind him as he sunk down to the floor in horror.

'Siri,' James said again, this time sounding far more worried than the last but Sirius didn't reply. He was in complete shock.

They were over; Remus had left him for good. He had pushed Remus away and he was _never _going to get him back.

'He's upset Siri, you can understand that...can't you? I'm sure you'll patch things up soon enough.' he said, attempting to sound positive but his voice clearly faking optimism.

He was really gone, he had left him. Suddenly the thought seemed to register fully and Sirius felt the full impact of his actions gasping loudly in realisation and feeling an ache not just in his chest, but almost as if it was coursing through his entire body.

Then he did something that no one would have ever expected, least of all James Potter who jumped back slightly in shock, looking incredibly terrified by his best friend's actions and utterly confused as to how he was supposed to handle their current situation.

He was Sirius Black, and for once in his life Sirius Black did cry.

**That was such a hard chapter to write...I've got **_**really **_**attached to this story and I hated doing that to them...**

**Also I posted a one-shot if anyone is interested in reading...its SBRL but a lot different from this story...reviews would be nice too if you are willing haha!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**GiggleNo9**

**xharrypotterismylifex**

**Neko Ninja Hezza**

**Kombinant**

**the garnetto**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	57. Chapter 57 Consequences

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Sirius...are you going to get up today?' James asked gently and Sirius turned towards his friend, after his second sleepless night, his eyes still feeling incredibly red and sore.

'Siri, you look a mess.' James said quietly, looking incredibly worried. James was currently standing at the edge of his bed, having just entered the dormitories and pulled back the red hangings around Sirius' bed and was leaning over him as if trying to inspect him in some way.

'I feel a mess.' Sirius said quietly, making sure that his tone held no emotion whatsoever.

'Remus has already left.' James told him softly.

'I know...'Sirius said sadly, he had lain there all night wide and awake and had heard Remus' painfully slow movements a while ago – how long ago exactly he wasn't sure, time seemed to have little meaning to him at that moment.

'Siri I-'

'-James please, don't sit here with me. I was the idiot, you should be with him.'

'He told me to stay with you, said you'd need someone. He...he didn't want me and you to fall out over all this,' James told him quietly. 'Practically ordered me to stay with you really...he didn't want you to be alone.'

'Trust him to still be a caring git after practically ripping my heart out.' Sirius muttered sadly.

'He just doesn't want us to fall out Siri; he doesn't want you to be alone because regardless of how much you've hurt him he _does _still care about you Sirius.'

'Don't James.' He said weakly, feeling only more hurt at hearing such words.

'Sure thing mate. You should get up though, I don't think you'll get away with skipping classes again, that would be two days in a row – not counting the afternoon the day before that'

'Whatever.' Sirius muttered, getting up sadly. He was still wearing the same uniform he had been wearing two nights ago and had no intention of bothering to change into a clean one and even James was looking at him as if he desperately wanted to tell Sirius to change his clothes but had apparently decided not to say anything that might set him off. Whether it would be setting him off into tears or shouts he wasn't sure.

'I eh...I've got a message for you as well.' James told him awkwardly.

'What?'

'Dumbledore...he wants you to serve detentions with him personally.' Sirius swallowed uncomfortably but nodded all the same. 'McGonagall says he wants you at his office at seven O'clock sharp.'

'Sure,' Sirius said emotionlessly, he almost welcomed detentions at that moment. He welcomed anything that might take his mind off of everything else that has happened, anything that might take his mind off of his own damn stupidity.

They made their way down to the Great Hall and Sirius had felt another pang as he saw Remus, pale and upset looking sitting with Lily Evans. She looked up towards them as they entered, her startlingly green eyes fixing Sirius with an icy glare.

'She knows.' Sirius said shortly, feeling incredibly annoyed.

'Yeah, I think Remus told her...he probably didn't want to make up excuses as to why we aren't all sitting together.'

'So Lily _bloody _Evans is suddenly privy to all our secrets.' He said bitterly and didn't wait for James' reply before sitting down in the seat nearest the door.

He could feel many pairs of eyes on him. He could feel them all staring at him curiously. They would all be wondering why he had been absent from classes the previous day, and most likely the afternoon before it as well. They would be wondering why he had finally made an appearance and chosen to sit so far away from Remus Lupin. They would very soon be gossiping like a bunch of bloody vultures and for a split second he could have sworn that Remus was one of those people watching him. But he looked up to find that Remus seemed to be determined to look at anything but Sirius.

Beside Remus a rather unhappy looking Lily Evans was whispering to him and Sirius could see the pale boy shake his head furiously at her but she ignored him, saying something else before standing up and making her way along the Great Hall and stopped right beside the remaining Marauders.

'I want a word with you, Black.' She said. Her tone was quite clearly harsh and her expression currently displaying a great deal of dislike for him.

'Yeah? Well I don't really want a word with you, Petal.' He said bitterly, not bothering to raise his eyes from the untouched food on his plate.

'Move,' she said firmly.

'Or what?' He asked sharply; his voice laced with its own warning as he raised his eyes to meet hers.

'Look you're going to cause a scene if you keep whinging on like this.'

'I'm not the one making the scene.' He retorted.

'Sirius, please.' James said quietly to him. 'You'll only draw more attention to you and Remus than you already have, and he certainly doesn't need that' Sirius groaned in irritation. Damn James Potter and his ability to know exactly how to make him move.

Groaning with annoyance Sirius stood and headed out of the Great Hall, making sure to stay ahead of Lily Evans. If Lily wanted to follow him then that was fine. But there was no way he was letting her dictate where they were going.

They let themselves into the first empty classroom they found and Sirius sat down on the desk, giving her an expression that clearly said "let's just get this over with".

'I can't believe you have the cheek to sit there with that stupid look on your face after what you did!' she said sharply.

'I don't really care about what you think, Evans.'

'What you did-' she started but Sirius was quick to cut over her.

'-I-know-what-I-did.' Sirius said through gritted teeth.

'You know, I don't think you do realise _just_ what you've done.' She replied haughtily.

'Trust me Evans I know exactly how _fucking _stupid I've been. I certainly don't need _you _to tell me.' But her expression had changed and she lowered her voice.

'I can't believe you did it Sirius,' she said quietly, her voice suddenly sounding more disappointed than angry and he lowered his head, not wanting to see her expression.

'Why did you do it? Why did you _really _do it?' She asked and for some reason Sirius almost felt as if he should tell her. Just admit it all now and get it all out in the open.

'I'm sure you've already been informed of all the nasty details, I'm not going to sit here and spill my guts for your amusement.' He said bitterly before heading for the door once more. But, of course, Lily was having none of it and moved in front of him to block his exit.

'I thought you were okay, well beneath your whole bully image at least. Behind all your stupid acts and pranks with James I thought you were different from the nutters that you happened to be related to. But you're not; you're just a worthless idiot.' Sirius didn't even reply. He was so incredibly annoyed at himself already that her opinion _really_ didn't matter to him in the slightest.

He turned and sat down on the desk once more, realising that their conversation was far from over. Sighing loudly Lily moved towards him, choosing to sit on the desk next to him and turning so that she was facing towards Sirius, her legs folded beneath her as she looked at him. Her eyes were shining brightly with confusion.

'He cares _so _much for you Sirius.' Lily said quietly, trying to make eye contact with him.

'You think I don't know that?' Sirius snapped at her with frustration.

'I don't think you realise _just _how badly you have hurt him Sirius!'

'I know exactly how badly I've hurt him Lily, _you_ didn't see the look his eyes last night, and _you_ didn't see him looking so tired and defeated. Don't talk to me like you know him better than I do, cus trust me you certainly _fucking _don't.' Lily stood up looking furious.

'REMUS IS MY FRIEND WHETHER _YOU_ LIKE IT OR NOT SIRIUS; HE DESERVED BETTR THAN YOU BETRAYING HIM TO YOUR WORST ENEMY.' She shouted, clearly angered by his words.

'WELL YOU'RE RIGHT, _I_ DON'T LIKE IT. YOU'RE SO DESPERATE FOR FRIENDS THAT YOU'VE BEEN DETERMINED TO TAKE MINE! WELL YOU KNOW WHAT? I HOPE YOU'RE _FUCKING _PLEASED WITH YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU GOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANTED ALL ALONG. YOU'VE GOT HIM, AND HE _HATES _ME NOW, SO YOU CAN GO CELEBRATE - THROW A BLOODY PARTY IN THE COMMON ROOM WHILE YOU'RE AT IT.'

'SIRIUS BLACK YOU ARE A COMPLETE AND UTTER IDIOT, HE DOESN'T HATE YOU. HE LOVES YOU, HELL HE'S _IN _LOVE WITH YOU AND YOU JUST THREW HIS TRUST BACK IN HIS FACE LIKE IT MEANT NOTHING TO YOU' Realisation of her words seemed to dawn on her and she paled, looking horrified for betraying her friend.

'I LOVE HIM TOO!' Sirius bellowed back and Lily looked completely shocked by his words. 'I LOVE HIM, AND HE LOVED ME. BUT NOW I'VE RUINED EVERYTHING...HE'S LEFT ME AND THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT.' Sirius shouted furiously, tears now streaming down his face once more and he couldn't believe he was crying in front of Lily Evans of all people.

'Y-You were together?' she asked, her voice now barely above a whisper and Sirius chuckled darkly.

'Yeah, it looks like he didn't quite tell you everything after all, did he?'

'No I...I only found out that he was in love with you this morning' she said quietly, walking towards him once more and sitting down. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers slightly, looking confused and frustrated and Sirius turned his own head away from her, wiping furiously at his face with his sleeve. He couldn't believe he was crying in front of Lily Evans, it was ridiculous.

'Yeah well you blurted out his _secret_ quick enough, didn't you?'

'This is hardly your every day situation though, is it?' she replied, giving him a small unsure smile.

'You know you shouldn't answer and question with a question.' Sirius joked lightly and she smiled.

'You're sounding like Remus.' She laughed softly and Sirius felt all the worse for her hearing those words.

'Sirius...how...I mean, when...?' she asked, seeming unsure how to convey what she wanted to know. But he knew what she was referring to anyway – his and Remus' relationship.

'Start of fifth year,' he told her quietly.

'Fifth year! I can't believe you managed to keep it so quiet.' She told him looking incredibly surprised.

'We don't have much choice Lily; I mean...we don't know how people would react to it and...well Remus is going to get enough hassle as it is after school – with being a Werewolf and all – he doesn't need being gay heaped on top of it and making him stand out any more than he already will.'

'That's stupid.' She stated simply.

'Well the world is full of stupid people.' Sirius shrugged. 'Clearly...' he added, remembering his own stupid actions. 'So...who does know?' she asked unsurely.

'You,' he said simply. 'Well James and Pete kinda know I think, but we didn't get around to...you know...'

'Telling them officially?' she suggested.

'Yeah...' he replied distantly. It certainly didn't look like that was ever going to happen now.

'Sirius-' she began sadly.

'-We were together and I ruined everything.' Sirius cut over her emotionally, it was all out now and he felt like he needed to tell her...needed someone he could explain it to.

'Why did you do it?' she asked, repeating her earlier question.

'I did it because...because Remus...he's-he's the most important thing, no...the most important _person_ in the world to me. I-I couldn't stand the idea of anything bad happening to him. I found out Snape was out to get him and I panicked. I know that's not a proper excuse but...I-I just wanted to protect him.' Sirius finished quietly, still not looking up into Lily's eyes.

'Sirius,' she whispered quietly and Sirius felt compelled to look up at her words. 'You went about protecting him the wrong way-'

'-I know that-'

'-but Remus _does _still love you Sirius. He's just hurt, you _really _hurt him and he needs time to think things through.'

'He said...he said that he couldn't do it anymore, couldn't-couldn't be with me anymore.' Sirius whispered, fear evident in his shaky voice.

'Then what you need to do is give him some time. Back off a little and give him some space then prove yourself. Prove that you're willing to change...for him' she told him firmly before adding teasingly; 'show him you can stop being so dim-witted.'

'I don't think it'll work Lily, I've hurt him too badly.' He sighed. 'It's impossible.'

'Nothing is _ever _impossible Sirius,' she said firmly looking him straight in the eyes - which Sirius now realised were _very _unusual - and then she did something that he had never expected her to do. She hugged him. Of course, with his dislike for physical contact he flinched automatically, making her let go instantly and earning himself a rather worried look from the redhead.

'Are you okay?' she asked unsurely, clearly worried that he would begin shouting at her like he had in potions. 'I didn't mean to-'

'-I'm fine' he said sharply before realising that he being unfair to her, she didn't know any better after all. 'I'm fine; it's just...I don't like people touching me.' He admitted to her quietly feeling slightly embarrassed but she nodded, apparently understanding their recent situation in Potions far better now and looking at him as if she could guess the reasons behind his dislike for physical contact. But he doubted she could, after all _he _wasn't entirely sure about the real reasoning behind it.

He felt like he and Lily had finally reached an understanding of sorts and he had to admit it would probably be for the best that they tried to get on in the future. After all James was likely to wear her down and get her to go out with him eventually. At least this way he was talking to her on his own terms and not having her presence forced upon him.

The two young students left the classroom soon after their talk and had realised with a start that they were, in fact, late for their first class of the day – Defence Against the Dark Arts.

They had rushed in, side-by-side, and had muttered their apologies before taking their normal seats. Sirius wondered how uncomfortable it must be for Lily to sit next to her former friend and act as if they had no history between them. Sirius then supposed he would be quick to find out, after all, he was away to take his seat next to Remus and they had even more history between them.

He felt Remus' eyes linger on his curiously for a moment before returning to his work once more and Sirius wondered whether it was due to him and Lily walking in without bickering, the fact that Lily hadn't hurt him in any way or whether his eyes were simply still red from the crying he had done in that empty classroom. However, he was fairly sure it was the first option. He doubted that Remus would have been able to sit quietly and say nothing if Sirius had looked like he had been crying.

'What page are we on?' Sirius asked quietly.

'Page 236.' Remus said back in a strained voice.

'Thanks.' He replied, hoping that Remus would say something else. Anything else would have been enough; he just wanted to feel like the Remus he had known was still there. That everything they had shared hadn't been some silly idea in his head. But he knew he was being ridiculous, if none of it had been real then it could never possibly have hurt him as much as it was.

He could feel eyes on him once again, like in the Great Hall. He could even feel Snape's eyes on him, as if taunting him for his stupid mistake.

That class had been nearly unbearable. He had sat in silence the whole lesson and had been completely unable to concentrate. All that was going through his head was that he couldn't possibly keep this up for much longer. He couldn't stand the pain he was in, couldn't stand the pain he must be putting Remus in. He had never regretted anything or hated himself as much as he did at that exact moment.

Sirius wasn't to know that Defence Against the Dark Arts would be seem like a happy place in comparison with his later Detention...

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**GiggleNo9**

**monkeybunspotter**

**the garnetto**

**SweetoothMegs**

**Neko Ninja Hezza**

**Wabb 1t**

**Kombinant**

**xxMOONandPAWxx**

**thehunchbackofnotredame**

**maraudingbymoonlight**

**For all those without accounts who reviewed I just want to tell you that I am **_**really **_**grateful for your reviews!**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	58. Chapter 58 Detention

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Ah, Mr Black. I see you managed to make it to my office with time to spare. If only the same could be said for your classes; in particular Defence Against the Dark Arts, I believe.' Professor Dumbledore commented with a small, sad smile upon his face.

'What happened was-' Sirius began, desperate to not make himself look any worse than he already had in the last few days.

'Mr Black, whatever it was that caused your timekeeping to suffer in neither here nor there. You are not here for the two of us to make idle chit-chat.'

'Sorry, Professor.' He replied quietly, feeling himself tense slightly as the atmosphere changed.

'Now, by no means should you expect this to be an easy punishment, Mr Black. I may not have been able to expel you or even suspend you without drawing attention to the recent _incident_ but I intend to make sure you understand the consequences of your actions.'

'Yes, Sir.'

'Now, sit down.' The aging wizard said quietly and Sirius did as he was told, sitting instantly in front of the headmaster's desk.

'Mr Black, over the course of these detentions I plan on showing you just how badly your actions could have affected the people around you, the people you claim to hold the most affection for as well as Mr Snape.'

'Professor I-'

'-Mr Black, I would advise you not to interrupt me. I am aware that you and Mr Snape have not always been able to see eye to eye.'

'We've _never _seen eye to eye.' Sirius corrected automatically and the headmaster gave him a most disapproving look.

'Mr Black, the history between you and Mr Snape is irrelevant. Whatever past experiences you may have had I implore you to forget them. You, yourself, cannot expect to be forgiven by Mr Lupin if in turn you are not willing to forgive and forget about your past problems with Mr Snape.'

'It's not that easy, Sir.' Sirius tried to explain.

'Not easy, Mr Black? What is _not _easy if being awoken in the middle of the night to find that one of my pupils had willing let another student walk to his death, risking the lives and safety of two other students in the process.'

'Sir I-'

'Mr Black, let us skip any excuses and explanations you may have for these actions. We cannot change the past, Mr Black, but we _can _learn from our mistakes.'

'Yes, Sir.'

'Now, we have many things to discuss. The risks you imposed upon Mr Lupin are many and I feel it would be better to leave that conversation for another time. Today I wish to talk about the other two people involved that night. Mr Potter and Mr Snape.'

Sirius swallowed uncomfortably. The other two people involved; the two people he had nearly got killed...

As he had expected the detention had not been an easy one; he would have much rather spent the _entire_ night cleaning out cauldrons and writing out passages than spending that short time in Dumbledore's office. He was now standing at the lakeside, having decided to wander the grounds aimlessly to try and clear his head. He _never _wanted to have detention with Dumbledore again. Dumbledore hadn't made him _actually_ do anything; if Sirius had been told a year ago that the worst detention he would ever face would be nothing more than talking to a Professor he would have thought them ridiculous.

But it wasn't that simple, not when you had to listen to every possible scenario being explained to you in slow, horrifying detail. Not when you had to listen to all the "what if's" and "could have been's"; not when you were made fully aware of how disgusting and terrible your actions were. Not when you were made to realise just how sick you must be in the head; of course the latter hadn't been Dumbledore's own words but it was how Sirius felt at that moment.

He couldn't begin to explain the guilt for what he had done. Couldn't begin to explain how much it was tearing him apart. He had nearly revealed his boyfriend to the world, nearly lost his best friend for ever and had nearly killed another student without second thought. He began walking away from the lakeside and headed towards the marauders' favourite tree.

He wasn't like that...was he? He had always felt so determined to be different from his family, to _not _end up throwing his weight around in order to make things go his own way. But that was _exactly _what he had done and he wished more than _anything _than he hadn't been so fucking stupid.

He sighed loudly in frustration, sitting down and leaning against the familiar tree. He couldn't help but remember that it was only a few months previous that he had sat at this tree with Remus by his side and had been able to kiss him, and hold him closely. He missed Remus' embrace ridiculously, it had barely been a few days and he already he felt a mess. He couldn't stand not being able to climb into the other young man's bed and curl up next to him. He hated not being able to cuddle him and touch him and just...just have him there, by his side and feel completely content.

Deciding it was getting a little too cold for his liking he stood up, stretching slightly and gazing upwards at the waning moon. It seemed so strange that in reality it had been a matter of days since _that _night, to Sirius it felt like _eternity. _He took one last lingering look towards the dark, glistening lake before heading back up towards the castle.

It was clearly later into the night than he had originally thought because when he had returned to Gryffindor Tower he had found that the Common Room was dimly lit and empty except for one person who stirred suddenly from his place on the chair, a blanket covering him neatly.

'Pads, is that you?' the familiar voice asked into the darkness and Sirius looked towards the messy haired you man with a small smile.

'Yeah...it's me.' He replied before adding teasingly; 'You look very cute with a blanket Jamsie.' But James didn't smile.

'Where the hell have you been?' James demanded, sitting up and fixing him with a worried expression.

'Sorry _mum, _didn't mean to worry you.' Sirius laughed.

'I mean it Sirius, where the hell were you?'

'You know where I've been James; you do have the bloody map, after all.'

'Remus has it.' James disagreed and Sirius felt himself tense, he wanted desperately to ask where Remus had went off to with the map...and why he needed it. But he decided it was pointless to ask...he didn't deserve to know, and if Remus didn't want him to know then he would have simply avoided telling James as well.

'Where were you?' James asked for a third time.

'Detention.' Sirius replied shortly.

'I don't think it took you _this _long to serve detention.' His friend stated disbelievingly.

'No...no it didn't.' He admitted, looking up into the eyes of his worried best friend.

'Then where were you?'

'Out,' he replied evasively. 'It doesn't matter...'

'It _does _matter.' James said firmly. 'I've been sitting up waiting for you to get back...wondering where the hell you were, and of all the times to _not _have the bloody map this was the most annoying'

'Well I'm sorry to worry you.' Sirius said quietly, being careful not to let any emotion show in his voice.

'So...how was it?'

'What?'

'Detention...I mean, it's not every day that someone gets summoned for detention with the _headmaster_.' James told him, sitting down on the chair in front of the fire.

'Horrible.' He admitted. 'We basically sat and talked the whole time. Talked about how things _could _have gone. Look, in all honesty I don't really wanna talk about it James...it's not something I want to think about.'

'Sure thing mate...' James sighed, clearly frustrated before fixing a smile to his face and standing up once more before asking; 'you heading up to bed?'

'I-I don't know...not yet I don't think.' He replied quietly and James was quick to give in to another look of frustration.

'There's no point sitting waiting here for him Sirius. It'll only make things more awkward than they already are.' James said knowingly and Sirius sighed in frustration.

'Fine. I'm coming.' He said shortly and moved quickly towards the stairs and headed straight up to their dorm, climbing into bed and pulling the hangings around him without another word.

It wasn't James' fault. Sirius knew that, but he couldn't help taking it out on him slightly. He just felt incredibly frustrated...whatever small chance he had had of sleeping was definitely gone now. He continued to toss and turn, trying to get comfortable but finding that he simply couldn't. There was no way he would be able to sleep until Remus had returned and went to bed; he felt particularly uneasy about not knowing Remus' whereabouts. It wasn't like Remus to go off wandering on his own...

'Sirius Black, how can you possibly expect to pass Potions if you won't even listen to me?' Lily sighed, apparently unsure whether she should be amused or frustrated by her friend.

'Sorry,' Sirius replied sheepishly.

'You're staring,' she commented and Sirius tore his eyes away from where Remus was currently sitting with Snape. Today they were simply in their pairs revising from books and Sirius was finding it _very _difficult to concentrate. He hated that of all the people in their class Remus had to work with Snape, he couldn't imagine how unbearably awkward that must be for the pair to sit side by side and act like nothing had happened.

'Sorry,' he mumbled again and she rolled her eyes in a highly Remus-like manner, causing Sirius' chest to ache slightly at the thought.

'What's wrong?' she asked unexpectedly; her face showing a great deal of concern.

'What do you mean?' he replied feeling confused.

'You looked sort of...pained.' she told him quietly and he gave her a small reassuring smile.

'I'm fine, honest...just thinking away in that messed up head of mine.' He joked lightly and she gave him a small, sad smile.

'Did you two...have words?' she asked awkwardly, nodding towards Remus.

'No...why?' he replied feeling confused by her question.

'It's just...you both look absolutely knackered.'

'Oh, well I had detention late and I went for a walk to clear my head so I wasn't in until the early hours of the morning. Remus was still out when I got back...'

'That's not something I'd expect from Remus.' She whispered worriedly.

'I thought he was with you...' Sirius replied, beginning to feel worried now.

'No...I'll talk to him later; see if I can get him to tell me where he was.' She told him and Sirius suddenly felt _very _glad that he and Lily were now on speaking terms.

'Thanks,'

'I didn't say I was going to _tell _you what his answer is.' She replied, her tone showing that she had no intentions of betraying her pale friend's confidence.

'You would tell me though, right. If it was something...' he couldn't think of the right word but he left the sentence lingering and she seemed to understand.

'If I thought it was important or something to be worried about then yes, I would tell you. Otherwise it's between me and him.' Sirius gave a nod to show he had been listening properly; he could respect that.

That lesson had been rather pointless in Sirius' opinion. He had been unable to concentrate fully and had barely done any work throughout the lesson.

'Hey, I figured I'd come meet you so we could walk to Care of Magical Creatures together.' James explained with a smile when Sirius had exited the dungeons.

'Thanks,' Sirius smiled back half-heartedly, watching as Remus and Lily passed them quietly.

'Remy!' James called loudly and Remus turned automatically in response, walking towards them with a pained expression as Lily remained rooted to the spot where she had been standing.

'I need to go James, can't we talk later instead?' Remus asked uncomfortably and Sirius tried his best to ignore the hurt he felt. He had no doubts that Remus would have stopped to talk with James if _he _wasn't there.

'Sure thing mate. We'll have the dorms to ourselves – apparently Pete managed to bag himself a date, and Sirius has another detention.' James voice had dropped to a lower level at the last five words and Sirius felt himself tense uncomfortably.

The atmosphere worsened after James' words and Sirius found himself unable to look at the scarred young man beside them.

'Pete got a date?' Remus asked lightly, clearly trying to ignore the other part of James' sentence. 'Who is it with?'

'No idea actually, Pete was acting all awkward so I didn't want to push him for a name. I'm sure we'll get it out of him before long.' James said positively, fixing a rather fake grin on his face to hide how uncomfortable he probably felt.

'I suppose, well I really do need to get going to Ancient Runes...' he replied tensely, looking over to Lily as if trying to gain comfort from her presence.

'I'll let you go then, we'll talk later...yeah?' James smiled hopefully.

'Yes.'

The two pairs then headed off in different directions and Sirius found himself in an even more depressed mood than before. He wished desperately that he was the one who would be spending his night with Remus.

'You do realise that I _don't _have detention tonight, right?' Sirius asked as they headed outside.

'Yes,' James admitted with an apologetic smile. 'I hoped you wouldn't mind leaving us for a bit to talk, and I figured Remus wouldn't agree if he thought you'd be off on your own somewhere.'

'Its fine James,' Sirius assured him quietly. 'I'll go to Honeydukes or something...hell; maybe I'll go and study in the library.' The last part was clearly meant as a joke but now that he had said it out loud he wondered briefly if Lily would mind hanging out with him for a while, maybe if he called it _studying _then she would agree.

**Firstly: Hello everyone, sorry for the slow update. My computer is a mess, my Microsoft Word went funny and I had to rush writing this on my friend's computer while she was studying. I don't think she believed I was writing my essay though haha XD Also, if there are lots of errors I'm sorry...I didn't have much time to write this in. It's probably not as good a chapter as you expected but I'll try to make the next few really good to make up for it :)**

**Secondly: It's been brought to my attention that this story might be classed as encouraging bullying behaviour. I am ****genuinely sorry if it comes across like that, it's definitely not my intention!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**monkeybunspotter**

**Siredna**

**xxMOONandPAWxx**

**GiggleNo9**

**Kombinant**

**excessivlyperky**

**Neko Ninja Hezza**

**spot'scrazygril**

**xharrypotterismylifex**

**For all those without accounts who reviewed I just want to tell you that I am **_**really **_**grateful for your reviews!**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	59. Chapter 59 Chocolate and Regrets

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Sirius, you up yet?' James called before pulling back the red hangings on Sirius' bed.

'Yeah...I've been up ages.' Sirius commented flippantly, he was currently sat at the top of his bed, leaning against the headboard and reading his book "The A-Z guide of magical creatures". He had made it up to chapter seventeen after waking a good many hours ago.

'You should have woken me up mate,' James complained loudly, throwing himself down onto Sirius' bed still pyjama-clad and with his hair sticking up even funnier than usual.

'I figured you probably needed the sleep.' He shrugged.

'_Me_? I've been sleeping fine Sirius. When was the last time _you _had a good sleep?' James asked him huffily.

'A long time ago.' Sirius said shortly, 'is there something you want James? Only I'm on chapter seventeen now and I-'

'Chapter seventeen? Sirius how long have you been awake?' James asked disbelievingly. 'Actually scrap that, I'm more interested in finding out if you got any sleep at all.'

'Yes James I did get some sleep. Not very much, admittedly, but I still got some all the same.' Sirius said loosely.

'Well, I'm afraid that is simply not good enough my dearest Padfoot.' James sighed dramatically. 'I may have to kill you, in order to save you from yourself.'

'Killing me can't really be classed as saving me though can it Prongs.' Sirius teased, still looking at his book.

'That's not the point!' James laughed and stood up, his hand now outstretched and awaiting Sirius' own.

'James...'

'No Sirius, you've got to get out this room. It's a Saturday, the sun is shining and what's more – it's a Hogsmeade weekend!'

'I just don't really feel like-' Sirius began but was surprised when James grabbed the book out his hands.

'-Sirius, you are going to get up and _washed-_do you remember that word Sirius?-and then you are going to get dressed and then _we _are going to go out and have fun. This happens to be another word you seem to have forgotten, Sirius – FUN.' Sirius glared at the bespectacled young man unhappily.

'Fine, just give me my bloody book back.' Sirius grumbled.

'Well done Sirius, the first step to recovery is remembering to live a little.' James teased, handing Sirius back his book and he quickly turned to put it under his pillow.

'I don't want to _recover _James.' Sirius told him shortly. 'I don't want to just forget everything and act like it never happened. Act like I've not lost him forever.'

'Oh, quit the dramatics Sirius. You're never going to make up with Remus if you spend all your time moping about in this bloody room.' James told him firmly, now pulling clothes out of Sirius' trunk.

'What _are _you doing?' Sirius sighed feeling incredibly exasperated by his friend's behaviour.

'_I _am making sure that my best friend wears something _clean_ because apparently he had lost the ability to distinguish between what is clean and what is dirty_.' _

'And_ I'm _the one being dramatic?' Sirius asked with a small smirk.

'Is that a smile I see? Merlin's beard!' James shouted theatrically.

'Shut up, Prongs' Sirius chuckled.

'Well...' James said looking at him pointedly.

'Well what?'

'Go. Wash. Now.' James told him firmly.

Sirius had to admit that James had made the right move in making him wash. He did feel better for it and had even managed some breakfast, although mostly down to James' persistence. They had been quick to gather Pete's attention as well, who had quickly left Remus and Lily in order to sit with the two boys. Sirius couldn't help feeling slightly annoyed with Pete for it; he was supposed to be Remus' friend too but seemed to only be concerned with being in his and James' company.

'So, are you planning on doing anything today?' Pete asked hopefully. Apparently he was quite desperate for them to go _out _and do something, instead of hanging about the dorms trying to cheer Sirius up.

`Yes Wormtail, we are fully planning on fulfilling our normal marauding activities. Aren't we Sirius?'

'If you call going to Hogsmeade marauding.' Sirius said emotionlessly.

'Now Pads, that's not very Marauder-like of you.'

'Maybe I don't really feel very Marauder-like.' Sirius replied.

'Maybe, you need to stop sulking and have some fun.' James said pointedly but Sirius found that he was getting incredibly frustrated with his messy haired friend-and fast.

'I'm terribly sorry that I'm not happy enough for you James. Sorry that I'm making _your _life so horrible.' Sirius said sarcastically.

'I know that you're hurt Siri... I am simply suggesting that you need to have some fun otherwise you're just going to end up completely consumed by your own sadness.' Sirius decided he wasn't in the mood to argue with his messy haired friend and quickly changed tactics to get him off his back.

'When did you start going all _Dumbledore _on people?' Sirius teased lightly and James grinned happily at his friend's teasing.

'See, all better. Now grab another bowl of cereal and we'll head off.'

'I didn't finish the first one James, what makes you think I'm going to even attempt another?' Sirius laughed.

'Nothing really, I just figured it would be worth a try.' He laughed back and then proceeded to stand up, pulling Sirius along with him.

'Off to Hogsmeade we go then!' James grinned and with a sigh Sirius let himself be dragged off by his overly-enthusiastic friend...

'You know, I'm really not sure which I prefer.' James smirked in amusement.

'Prongs!' Sirius whined unhappily. They were currently standing in Honeydukes and James was slowly debating which type of Sugar Quills to get.

'Yes Padfoot?' James asked, in a voice that he clearly _meant _to be innocent but had failed miserably at.

'Stop being a git! You're deliberately teasing me.' Sirius complained unhappily, he hated no longer having spare money to waste.

'Would I do such a thing?' James smirked in return.

'Yes, yes you would.' Sirius huffed. 'Because you're a cruel git who's in love with a psychopath so I don't doubt your evil genius abilities!'

'Thank you, for the compliment.' James grinned.

'It's not a compliment it's a fact.' Sirius replied, sticking his tongue out at his best friend.

'Now, now Sirius. You wouldn't want your tongue to _accidently _get hexed off now, would you?' James teased in amusement.

'And you wouldn't want to _accidently_ be attacked by a mad dog in the middle of the night, would you?' Sirius replied in a similar manner.

'No I suppose not,' James grinned. 'You wanting anything or not?' he added kindly.

'Really?' Sirius asked happily.

'Yup I'll even let you pick two items.' James laughed, apparently amused by his friend. So he did. Sirius had picked a Sugar Quill – which James replaced with a deluxe one, much to Sirius' enjoyment – and a rather large bar of chocolate.

They had exited the shop soon afterwards and made their way to the Three Broomsticks, with James offering to buy the butterbeers for his two friends.

'Lily!' James had exclaimed quite happily as he noticed her and Remus sitting together in the corner of the pub.

'Hi James,' she replied in an amused tone as the three of them made their way towards them. 'Sirius, Peter.' She added politely and she even gave Sirius a small smile which he still found to be rather strange, it would take a while before he got used to him and Lily no longer killing each other in their mind's eye's. Pete gave a small "hello" back and Sirius gave her a weak smile, not really feeling like talking now that he was so close to Remus.

The awkwardness that seemed to be hanging in the air was near on unbearable and James had burst into a pointless explanation of how they had just been to Honeydukes and Sirius saw a small, sad look cross over Remus' eyes at those words.

'Here,' Sirius said quietly, reaching into his deep pockets and pulling out the chocolate bar. 'You may as well have it; I'm not much of a chocolate person anyway.'

Remus looked up him with a surprised expression and seemed unsure whether to accept it or not. Sirius then proceeded to snap the chocolate in half instead and placed one half on the table.

'See, now if you leave it sitting there then it's just a waste of good chocolate.' He joked lightly and he could have sworn that he'd seen a ghost of a smile on Remus' face at his words, but it had vanished as quickly as it had appeared leaving Sirius feeling quite frustrated. He longed to see Remus smile, he couldn't think of the last time he had seen the pale young man smile...not since before _that _night at least.

Sirius smiled sadly as he watched Remus reach a hand out and pick up the chocolate, proceeding to break a bit off and eat it slowly. He looked incredibly pale and weak, and Sirius couldn't help feeling even worse than before. It wasn't long now until the full moon – three days, in fact and it hurt incredibly to know that he wouldn't be allowed with him...just like the previous month.

'Thank you,' Remus said in a quiet, polite voice and Sirius felt all the worse. He _hated _not being able to talk to Remus properly. They had always been close, far before they had even thought of each other as anything more than friends and it tore Sirius apart not to be able to go to Remus when he felt sad. He felt even worse knowing that Remus would no longer come to _him _either, even if there was a problem.

That wasn't the worst part though, no, the worst part was knowing how tired and horrible Remus must be feeling so close to the full moon and not being able to comfort him. Being unable to hold him close, to be there before the transformation and softly remind him that he would still be there when he would wake.

'Why don't we all sit together?' James suggested, clearly wishing Sirius and Remus could get on again and knocking Sirius out of his own thoughts.

'I-I think we're pretty much done here.' Remus told him awkwardly, despite the fact that neither him nor Lily had actually finished their own butterbeers.

'Oh,' James said looking highly disappointed. 'Okay...' Sirius immediately saw a guilty look on Remus' face and Sirius felt all the worse for it. This wasn't fair; he didn't want Remus to not spend time with the others just to avoid making _him _feel lonely.

'I'm gonna go for a walk.' Sirius told the others quietly. 'You guys should hang out here until I'm done.' He suggested and James and Peter nodded, although they looked slightly confused. But Sirius didn't mind, he could walk about aimlessly for a bit in order to let Remus spend time with the other marauders without having to be close to Sirius himself.

So he did go for a walk, sighing heavily as he headed off towards the shrieking shack. Looking up at it he was only reminded all the more of how he wouldn't be accompanying his friend for the second time since their fall out. In three days time he' would have missed three full moons in a row – counting the one he had spent in detention with James.

He wondered briefly whether he should go somewhere else or stay standing, looking at that _horrid _building. Imagining the blood curdling noises that would be coming from it in three days time.

'Sirius!' he turned to see Lily Evans walking towards him with a friendly smile.

'Hi Evans,' he replied, he still couldn't get used to the two of them talking normal to each other.

'Lily,' she told him pointedly, rolling her eyes and making Sirius want to shout out in frustration. Whenever _anyone _rolled their eyes he immediately thought of Remus, and when he was trying his best _not_ to think of him it was annoying to see.

'So, how come you came wandering out here?' Sirius asked her.

'I thought I'd check on you and see how you were,' she shrugged. 'That was really nice of you by the way.' She told him, looking quite proud of him.

'What?' he replied shortly, knowing exactly what she was taking about but not really wanting to acknowledge it.

'You know perfectly well what I'm talking about Sirius; you gave up time with your friends so that Remus could have some. It was...sweet.'

'Me and sweet don't go in the same sentence, Petal.' He commented.

'Sure Sirius, you can try to keep that image all you want but I _know _that you're a sweet guy at heart. Especially when it comes to Remus.' Sirius felt another pang in his chest at her words. 'I guess you probably don't want to hear that right now, but it's true all the same.'

'If you know I don't want to hear it then why do you bother saying it?' he replied.

'Because, I can see that as much as you don't like the hurt it causes...you still like to think about him.'

'Whatever, Petal.' He said distantly.

'He thinks about you too, you know.' She said casually.

'Oh really?' Sirius said bitterly.

'Yes, it hurts him. But he does. I can see it; I swear I can practically feel it sometimes. The way he looks at you sometimes it's just...it's hard to explain. But I'd give anything to have someone look at me like that.'

'James would, if you let him.'

'It's not really the same Sirius,'

'Course it is, I wasn't as in love with Remus when we first got together as I am now.' He said truthfully, looking her straight in the eye. He was doing this for her and for James; James deserved to get the girl he wanted. 'Those kinds of feelings grow on you, you don't even realise it until...until it's too late to go back.'

'Really?' the redhead asked doubtfully.

'Really...trust me Lily; I know you don't mind James half as much as you pretend to.'

'He just annoys me sometimes, I can't stand it when he acts like a bully, or when he does stupid-'

'-Remus was never happy with me being a bullying git either. But nobody's perfect Lily. Plus...James isn't like that now, he's...growing up.' Sirius said with a small smile.

'You really think so?' she asked softly and Sirius could tell that she was thinking about his words carefully.

'He saved Snape, nearly died doing it...Gryffindor bravery....or stupidity, I never could decide which.' He chuckled.

'I think James isn't the only one to change Sirius. I can see the guilt in your eyes when you speak about that night.'

'Guilt,' he chuckled darkly. 'Sure, guilt for nearly getting my best friend killed. Guilt for betraying...betraying _him.' _Sirius whispered, not wanting to say Remus' name out loud. 'But I don't feel guilt for being willing to let Snape die.'

'You don't mean that Sirius.'

'I do Lily; I wish I didn't of course. But I do. It isn't about Snape in the slightest I mean...I wouldn't kill him for the hell of it but I'd do it for _him_. I'd do anything to keep _him _safe Lily...whether he likes it or not.' He whispered sadly

'What ever happened to the Sirius Black that was determined to prove everyone was wrong about him?' she replied in a similar sad tone.

'He realised that his reputation is worth nothing.' Sirius said harshly.

'It's not just about your reputation Sirius; it's about proving that you're morally different from your family. It's more than just reputation Sirius, you and I both know that. It's about you as much as it is them.'

'And none of it would be worth anything if I didn't have him.'

'You don't have Remus,' she stated harshly and Sirius felt instantly wounded by her words.

'Maybe not, but he's safe. We don't need to worry over Snape revealing him and-and I'd rather I was alone and Remus was safe than have him in danger so I could keep my morals and...and him.'

'Have you ever thought about what Remus wants?' she asked him pointedly and he quickly found that he had no reply to her. 'Well maybe if you had then you wouldn't be in this stupid mess.' And with that Lily turned and walked away, leaving Sirius to stare up at that wretched building and wonder why he had chosen to come and look at the thing that would _most _remind him of the person he was so sure he didn't want to think about.

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**GiggleNo9**

**xxMOONandPAWxx**

**Kombinant**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	60. Chapter 60 More Detention and Amortentia

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Ah, Mr Black...you have arrived early I see,' Professor Dumbledore said; his face giving no indication that he was surprised in any way.

'No point in avoiding the inevitable.' Sirius sighed.

'I assume there have been no advancements between yourself and Mr Lupin.' The aging man said somewhat sadly.

'No.' Sirius said shortly.

He had been given personal detentions with the headmaster three times a week until Dumbledore saw fit to release him and these detentions were almost unbearable. Dumbledore would pull out books, sit him down, and then proceed to tell him all about a new subject. For the last few weeks they had been focusing on Werewolves. Each time they would focus on a different Werewolf; their history, when they were bitten, actions which gained enough attention for them to become recognised or notable Werewolves and the punishments they had received for these actions. The punishments involved in these tales were often brutal and sickened Sirius to the core.

The headmaster would then ask Sirius to write a short essay on that specific Werewolf before their next detention and Sirius found it increasingly difficult each time.

'I am sure you will be relieved to know that tonight will be the last night that I expect you to be serving detention with me.' Dumbledore informed him calmly as Sirius sat down.

'Well, I can't say these detentions have been particularly enjoyable.' Sirius admitted bitterly.

'Punishment is not meant to be enjoyable.' The wise wizard explained calmly. 'However, I am sure that these meetings have been rather...insightful.'

'If by insightful you mean horrifying, guilt-ridden and pretty damn sickening then yeah.' Sirius replied. He was surprised to find that the headmaster didn't seem bothered by his description of the detentions and continued as if Sirius hadn't even spoken.

'However, as this is your last night I wanted to make sure this was by far your most memorable detention with me. I want to make sure that you will _never _act so recklessly again.'

Sirius said nothing in return and waited for the man continued.

'You will not need those,' the aging wizard added, nodding towards the parchment and quill that Sirius had brought with him. 'Nor will I be expecting you write an essay on this particular case.'

'Yes, Sir.' He replied politely.

'Tonight we are going to have a discussion about a particular Werewolf who I am fairly certain you have been informed about. A Werewolf by the name of Fenrir Greyback...'

Sirius' mind practically began screaming _"No No No!" _in an attempt to block out the man's words. He wanted to disappear, not wanting to hear about the history of Greyback or the situations leading to him becoming a Werewolf. He didn't want to hear some pathetic _excuses _as to why he was such a psychopathic freak who enjoyed attacking people without need. Nothing could _ever _make Sirius feel any kind of pity for that...that monster.

Needless to say, that had been the worst of his detentions, worse than all the others put together in fact.

By the time he returned to the dormitories that night both Peter and Remus were fast asleep. But, of course, James Potter was wide awake and sitting on Sirius' bed awaiting his return. James had waited up after each detention but this had been _far _later than any of the others and James was looking particularly tired.

'What took so long?' James asked worriedly.

'It was my last detention.' Sirius said quietly, climbing onto the bed next to his best friend and giving a frustrated sigh.

'What took so long though? You're never _this _late.'

'We uh...we discussed the last of the _notable_ Werewolves...Greyback' Sirius said darkly.

'You okay?' the messy-haired young man asked him with concern.

'As _okay _as I'm gonna be...' he muttered sadly.

'How bad was it?'

'Bad.' He admitted weakly, thinking over everything he had been told. He got the feeling that tonight he was going to find it even harder to try and sleep than usual.

James had lain down and stayed with him that night, trying to comfort him. But there was only so much comfort that he could gain from his best friend...even James couldn't _really _make Sirius feel any better. But he appreciated the attempt anyway, drifting off into a short, troubled sleep...

'For Merlin's sake Sirius, will you just bloody well eat a proper breakfast for once?' James snapped in frustration as they sat in the Great Hall the following morning. But his harsh tone didn't last long and he sighed before changing his voice to an almost begging tone. 'Please, just eat more than a few mouthfuls of cereal; you're driving me insane...'

'Drop it James, Sirius said tiredly, he had now reached the point where he genuinely hadn't had a proper night's sleep in months. That wasn't his only problem either; his class work had gone downhill; he was no longer keeping up in his classes and Professor McGonagall had even seen fit to withdraw him from his classes for the day a few days previously, telling him to return to his dorm and get some much needed sleep. It had been extremely unsettling to see such a look of concern in the stern woman's eyes.

Ever since that day James had became even more attached to him than before, rarely leaving his side, looking constantly worried and fretting over the smallest of things.

They were currently sitting in the Great hall together, just the two of them. Today Pete was sitting with Remus and Lily today. Peter and Lily were quite animatedly discussing the few things left in the Potions course that they hadn't covered yet. Sirius was barely even scraping a pass in Potions right now and even then that pass was due solely to Lily Evans' persistence with him. But he just didn't put the effort in any more, having lost any previous motivation for all his classes.

However, sitting alone didn't seem to be doing them any favours whatsoever. It seemed to give off the impression that they wanted to be stared at by the female population of Hogwarts. James had become quite handsome according to many girls of the school – personally Sirius couldn't understand what people found attractive about messy hair and constantly cheesy smirks - But James was not the only one to get attention, Sirius had also gained quite a following and he _really _didn't understand it. Sure he could admit that he was fairly good looking – although he could gradually see himself getting thinner, paler and far from his normal self- but he was a particularly nasty person to most of the Hogwarts population and didn't get what people who didn't _really _know him could possibly have to like about him.

In all honesty the hopeful expressions that crossed many of these girls' faces when close by were, quite frankly, stupid and irritating. If he hadn't been in such a bad mood recently he probably would have found the irony of it quite funny. They were all rather desperate for his attention and in return he wanted to nothing to do with them, the only person's attention he wanted was the attention of the rather male Remus John Lupin – and that certainly wasn't going to happen any time soon.

'Please, Siri.' James said again.

'Drop it James!' he snapped and James looked down at his own food emotionlessly, apparently too worried about Sirius to eat his own food.

'Look – I'm sorry for snapping – okay?' Sirius said tiredly, giving a small yawn and James gave him a small nod to show he understood. 'Why don't we just go? We could go play in the Forrest or something.' Sirius joked.

'Oh no you don't, Sirius.' James said firmly. '_You, _my friend, have a Potions class to attend.' And Sirius groaned in annoyance, he was fairly sure that James was going to walk him all the way down to the Dungeons now just to make sure he went to class.

He had been right, of course. James had walked him down to the Potions class, making sure that he was in Slughorn's sight before leaving. The class had been allowed into the classroom and Sirius gasped slightly as he entered – there was a distinctly seductive smell wafting through the room - before dropping into his seat next to Lily Evans.

'Good morning, Sirius.' She said quietly, attempting to have a normal conversation with him.

'That's debateable.' He muttered; feeling highly exhausted.

'Do you smell that?' Lily whispered, ignoring his last comment and looking incredibly flushed.

'Yeah...it's great but...why do you like it?' he asked suspiciously.

'Don't worry Sirius; we are both smelling entirely different things.' She laughed, looking rather amused by the expression he had pulled.

'Why?'

'Because what we are smelling is Amortentia.' She told him matter-of-factly. 'It's-'

'-a love potion, yeah.' He said quietly, remembering reading it in his potions book whilst sitting about the dormitory a few weeks previous.

'What do you smell then?' Lily asked with a small smile.

'Does it matter?' Sirius said bitterly.

'I smell...' but she seemed to have decided all of a sudden not to share, blushing slightly as if with some sort of realisation. She seemed to think it wasn't wise to share, as if Sirius would figure out some big secret.

'What do _you _smell?' Sirius smirked at her reaction.

'Does it matter?' she said shortly, imitating Sirius' earlier tone and Sirius grinned with curiosity...he had the feeling he knew exactly why she wouldn't share.

'So...James walked me down earlier.' He smirked, awaiting her reaction...and he got exactly what he wanted. She flushed all the more.

'Yes I noticed, I haven't spoken to him in a while...' she said, clearly attempting to sound casual but failing miserably.

'Now students, gather round,' Slughorn smiled happily, indicating for them to come closer to the Potion.

They did as they were told but Sirius gasped slightly in shock as he stood next to the cauldron. The smell seemed far stronger up close and he closed his eyes momentarily, bathing in the delicious scent. He could smell newly polished armour, chocolate and an indescribable scent that he could only possibly think of as being that unique smell he associated with Remus.

Lily who was standing next to him inhaled deeply and Sirius followed suit, his stomach tightening with familiar longing as he inhaled the tantalising smell.

Lily turned to look at him with worried etched upon her face, her green eyes awash with concern.

'Sirius-'

'-I-I can't stay here,' he whispered weakly. It was getting too much for him, he hadn't been close enough to Remus to smell that scent in over three months now and the joy and pain that it caused him were so conflicting that he felt he might well explode.

His eyes wandered carelessly along to where Remus was currently standing - in-between Snape and Peter – without thought and he was surprised to see the scarred young man was staring back at him with longing, currently on the brink of tears.

Sirius felt the ache in his chest increase only more as Remus looked away, his eyes now cast downwards towards the potion as if trying to focus solely on it but not quite managing it. Seeing Remus' longing had only made things worse, pushing Sirius over the edge all the more and before Sirius even realised what he was doing he turned and fled.

'Sirius!' Lily called to him, but he ignored her words along with Slughorn's unimpressed shouts and bolted straight out of the classroom.

He continued to run, his head and chest both pounding rapidly, before reaching Gryffindor Tower and quickly giving the password and then hurrying through the Portrait Hole. He ignored the shouts of James Potter, who had been studying in the Common Room, as he fled up the stairs, running straight into the dormitory and charming the door shut behind him.

He continued forward and climbed straight into Remus' bed for the first time since before _that _night and pulled the covers up around him, inhaling deeply the familiar scent of Remus Lupin. It caused him incredible pain but he was feeling drawn to it now, missing the smell that had accompanied the Amortentia.

'Sirius,' James called from the other side of the door, trying desperately to open it. He didn't reply, continuing to burry himself further into Remus' bed.

'Sirius, I don't know what the hell is going on but you better open this _fucking _door!' James hollered loudly, clearly worried for his best friend.

'Go away James!' Sirius shouted back, his voice weak and cracking with emotion.

'I SWEAR ON MERLIN'S BLOODY GRAVE SIRIUS, IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR _RIGHT _NOW I _WILL _GET MY BROOM AND I'LL COME THROUGH THE FUCKING WINDOW!' James bellowed warningly and Sirius didn't doubt his friend's words for a second.

Deciding that there was no point in delaying the inevitable he reached for his wand once more and took the charm off the door. The shouting stopped momentarily and Sirius watched as James burst into the room with a slightly maddened look on his face.

'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?' James shouted, rushing forward to Remus' bed and Sirius was exceptionally grateful that James was not mentioning the fact that Sirius was currently curled up in Remus Lupin's bed with the covers pulled up tight around him.

'Leave me _alone _James.' He said quietly, his voice trembling on the word "alone" and he quite suddenly succumbed to a wave of tears which was far worse than either of the two previous times that he had cried in the last few months. He was now shaking uncontrollably as he tried desperately to regain control of his currently uneven breaths and choked sobs, tears flowing down his face at a ridiculous speed.

He was surprised to find James' arms suddenly wrapping around him tightly and felt a new wave of sobs begin.

'What the hell happened Sirius?' James asked quietly, sounding frustrated but determined to get to the bottom of it and fix things. But Sirius couldn't seem to summon the words and only wrapped his arms around his best friend, trying in vain to gain comfort from his embrace.

But they had barely sat like that a few minutes when an out of breath and anxious looking Lily Evans appeared at the still open doorway; her thick red hair no longer looking as effortlessly pretty as usual.

'Sirius,' she said quietly, moving towards him unsurely with a pitying look evident on her face.

'I don't want your _damn _pity, Evans!' Sirius spat angrily. But this didn't put her off and she continued forward, soon reaching his side and sitting down carefully on the edge of the bed. She seemed to have grown used to his loud reactions over the last year and was apparently no longer bothered by it.

'Get off his bed!' Sirius snapped unexpectedly at the two of them and Lily moved instantly, apparently quite surprised. After all she had never been in their dorm before now and wasn't to know that the bed was, in fact, Remus' bed and not current occupant's. James, however, hadn't moved in the slightest refusing to budge from Sirius' side.

'I can't stand it James!' Sirius admitted through his hysterics. 'I c-can't d-do this any m-more.'

'It's okay Sirius,' James said quietly, his arms wrapping around Sirius comfortingly once more.

'N-no James, it's really not. I don't think I can handle this-' he admitted fearfully.

James suddenly had a look of determination in his eyes and he watched Sirius momentarily before standing up.

'Right, I'm going to talk to him.' James said firmly.

'He's in _class _James,' Lily reminded him quietly.

'I don't care! Some things are more important than being in a bloody Potions class.' He said firmly.

'Don't! Please James,' Sirius pleaded. 'This is all my own fault anyway. I brought it on myself. I don't want you to upset him any more than I already have and I...I don't want him to think I'm weak.' He finished tearfully and James seemed only to look worried further than before.

'I'll be back soon.' James said with a tone of finality before softly adding; 'Lily, could you...?'

'I'll stay with him.' She replied with a nod, looking at James rather strangely and Sirius couldn't help feeling irritated by the way they were talking as if he wasn't even there; like he was some sort of sick child.

James then reached down once more, giving Sirius one last, firm hug. But Sirius was no longer hugging back; feeling weak, exhausted and near on lifeless.

He didn't want James' firm hug. He wished for nothing more than to be in an entirely different pair of arms – the gentle, loving arms of Remus Lupin...that was what Sirius _really _wanted.

James then headed out the door and Sirius felt distinctly sick. He didn't want James to make Remus feel bad or put pressure on him.

'Sirius...' Lily began softly, her green eyes staring at him intently.

'Yeah?' he said quietly, the tears still running down his face but slower now leaving a sad, wet trail down his cheeks.

'Is this...' she indicated to the bed he was sitting on.

'Yeah,' Sirius whispered back. 'Remus' bed.' The name seemed strange to him, it had been so long since he had said it out loud.

'I understand it must have been difficult in there Sirius, with Remus being so close and...well...the Amortentia was pretty strong. I felt a bit mad myself.' She admitted.

'It's not the same Lily.' He stated.

'What makes you so sure?' she replied, her voice challenging him.

'Because Lily, you smelt something you'd be attracted to...something you would really like to have. I smelt something I've already had...something I won't ever get back...and it hurts like hell.'

'Oh Sirius, I'm sorry...that was a stupid comment.' She said quietly, looking as if she wanted to sit down on the bed once more. 'You should try to sleep, you know.'

'I need to move...' Sirius said sadly, 'If Remus comes up...'

'Its fine Sirius, I doubt he'll grudge you a bit of decent sleep. You look like you could use it.' She told him truthfully.

'Lily...' he whispered unsurely, feeling incredibly insecure at telling his feelings so openly to Lily Evans of all people.

'Yes?' she whispered back kindly.

'I miss him _so _much.' He replied truthfully, tears now spilling once more from his tired eyes.

'Sirius, get some sleep...things will seem better once you've rested.' But Sirius only felt bitter after hearing her words. There was no way things could seem _better_.

Sleeping wouldn't bring his Remy back, wouldn't change what he had lost. Sirius felt like an empty shell now that he was without his scarred friend. He turned over, facing away from the pitying stares of Lily Evans and curled up tightly into a ball; taking one of the two pillows from the top of Remus' bed and hugging it close, inhaling that oh so comforting scent. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid as to lose Remus and he would have gladly given _anything _to get him back.

**Thanks for the support so far in this story, 60 chapters down now...I certainly didn't expect it to get this long when I first started it haha**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Neko Ninja Hezza**

**GiggleNo9**

**Moon12345**

**xharrypotterismylifex**

**Kombinant**

**Spot'scrazygril**

**Siredna**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	61. Chapter 61 Talking Things Through

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Sirius...Sirius, wake up, mate.' Sirius Black's eyes opened instantly at the familiar voice and looked upwards, only to see the bespectacled face of James Potter staring down at him.

'He's here Sirius; Remus is here to talk to you.' James told him quietly and Sirius sat upright, immediately taking in the unsure face of Remus Lupin no more than five feet from the bed.

'Can you...can you leave us alone, please.' Remus asked quietly.

'No, I am going to stand here and mediate and you two _are _going to sort things out.'

'James, I have every intention of sorting things out between us.' Remus replied calmly. 'However, I would much rather have this conversation in private.' James looked between the two unsurely.

'James, James come on...let's leave them alone, okay?' Lily said quietly and Sirius jumped slightly, having completely forgotten about the redheaded young woman. 'If we leave them alone they're far more likely to be open with each other. Nothing bad is going to happen; they're hardly likely to hex each other.' She smiled comfortingly, placing a hand on James' arm as she spoke.

'You don't know that.' James retorted quickly and Lily gave him a soft smile. 'You have to trust them James, if you won't then who will?' her words seemed to have gotten through their messy haired friend's head because he nodded in a resigned manner and they left the room, giving the two marauders small smiles of encouragement as they closed the door behind them.

Sirius watched Remus closely, unsure whether to speak or wait for Remus to initiate the inevitable conversation. What Sirius had been far from expecting was for Remus to charm the door to lock behind them before proceeding to take off his shoes and pull back the covers to his bed, climbing in and sitting next to Sirius.

'R-Remus.' Sirius whispered unsurely, wondering momentarily if this was all just a dream. Wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him, if he had truly gone mad.

'James came to see me,' Remus whispered quietly. 'We talked and...I realised that this has gone on long enough...I hate being away from you, I hate how unfair I've been to you-'

'You've not been unfair to me!' Sirius replied in surprise. 'Remus I deserve far worse than what I've been through these last few months. I was a complete and utter arsehole.'

'Sirius, please, I-I need to get this off my chest...I-I've been a terrible person. I was putting you through all this, like some sort of stupid test. I never wanted to leave you...I've hated every moment we've been apart. It's been killing me inside to see you deteriorating before my eyes...but I-I couldn't just brush it off. You _betrayed _me-'

'-I know Remus, and I am _so _sorry! I never meant to do that to you, I never planned any of this. I was a reckless idiot, and a stubborn one at that. Thinking I could play God with other people's lives-'

'-You betrayed me Sirius, and I wanted to teach you a lesson. Wanted you to understand what you had done fully; you were willing to let Snape _die_ in order to keep a secret and you risked both me and James' lives in the process. I-I just wanted to help you realise your mistakes and...I don't know really...I just wanted you to go back to being the Sirius I fell in love with. I wanted you to be the Sirius who hated to see people hurt or taunted for no reason, the Sirius who would do anything to defend people who were being unfairly treated. I wanted you to stop being the one who _was_ carrying out the mistreatment of others.' Sirius felt his guilt intensify; he remembered clearly stating to Remus how much he had hated such things during their earlier years at Hogwarts.

'I...I'm sorry Remus. I don't know what to say, but I swear...I'd do _anything _to have you back.'

'I don't want you to stop doing these things for _me_.' Remus said firmly, turning now to look him straight in the eye. 'I want you to change for _you.'_

'I have Remus, I swear I have. I haven't said or done anything to _anyone_ since that night. Hell, I've not even pranked anyone.' Remus smiled at his words and reached out to him stroking his face softly.

'I don't mind the silly pranks Sirius. Not if it is just that – a prank. There's a _big _difference between a pulling a prank and full on bullying someone.'

'I get it now Remy, it's like...it's like I can see the line again – between pranking and bullying. I never wanted things to get out of control. But the thing with Snape wasn't like that anyway; it wasn't about bullying in the slightest, I just...I lost control.'

'I know, and at first I stayed away because I was hurt but...but then it changed and I did it to try and teach you a lesson, it was wrong of me to treat you like that but I did. I just wanted to show you that there would be consequences. I wanted you to have a reason to _stop _being controlled by your emotions and you instincts. I wanted you to learn how to take a step back and think before acting.'

'I will Remy, I won't let things get to me so easily...I can't stand what I've done, it's been tearing me up inside and not having you around only made it a million times harder.'

'A million?' Remus whispered softly, a small note of amusement in his voice as he spoke.

'So it's a slight exaggeration...' Sirius chuckled quietly and he was happy to see Remus give him a small smile. He could practically feel his heart soaring at seeing the pale young man smile for the first time in months. But it disappeared quickly and Remus had an almost pained expression on his face as he spoke;

'I'm sorry, you know...sorry for breaking my promise.'

'What promise?' Sirius whispered; his voice sounding hoarse and his mind feeling utterly confused by Remus' confession.

'I-I promised you that I would _never _leave you.' Remus whispered back, his eyes tearing up as he spoke and Sirius felt his chest ache slightly at the sight of it.

'Don't be so bloody ridiculous!' Sirius exclaimed loudly, reaching up to cup Remus' scarred face; he had so badly missed the feel of the other boy beneath his fingers. 'I'm the one who's supposed to be apologising. _I'm_ the idiot.' Sirius' explained, hearing his own voice crack with emotion. He couldn't believe that Remus was trying to apologise, he hadn't _done _anything at all.

'Sirius-'

'No, Remus listen, _I'm _the one who wrecked everything...I was so stupid and-' but he never got to complete his sentence. Sirius had been cut off rather suddenly by Remus who had crushed their lips together unexpectedly and Sirius had caught a brief glimpse of tears running down the pale young man's face before closing his own eyes and allowing himself to slip blissfully into their kiss.

Sirius could have sworn he was capable of exploding with longing at that moment. This was unlike any of their previous kisses. This was far more urgent, it was an almost primal instinct and he could feel Remus needed this as much as he did. They _needed _each other desperately, having been separated for such a long space of time. Sirius couldn't believe his luck, he was kissing Remus passionately for the first time in months and it was unbelievable.

He immediately reached forward, pulling Remus closer, wrapping an around his back as he allowed his other hand to snake up to the curve of Remus' neck, holding on lovingly. He could feel tears running down his own face now and Remus was quick to respond, reaching a hand up to Sirius' neck in a similar fashion and letting his other hand reach into Sirius' hair, grasping it tightly. Sirius almost gasped at the shock of it, this was incredible. He could taste that wonderful taste that always seemed to accompany Remus, but it wasn't like the other times. This time it wasn't just that he could taste but the taste of their tears, interlacing on their lips.

Of course, two people can only kiss for so long before they run out of breath and must eventually pull apart. But they didn't move away from each other, still holding on to each other in the same way that they had during their kiss. Sirius gasped slightly against Remus' neck, loving the feeling of being close to him once more. He had missed their contact, had missed the physical affection...had missed _Remus_ and to an unbearable extent.

'Sirius,' Remus moaned lightly into Sirius' hair and Sirius felt a thrill surge through him at the pale young man's words. 'I've missed you _so _much...' he continued in a small gasp, sounding incredibly out of breath and Sirius smiled against the scarred young man's neck before placing a gentle kiss on one of scars which adorned it.

'I've missed you too Remy,' and he had. He had missed the way Remus would always awake just before Sirius would begin trying to awaken him and would lie there with his eyes closed, a small smile on his face as Sirius began the noisy routine of waking up the rest of the dorm. He missed the way Remus would curl up against him in the middle of the night, allowing Sirius to hold him close and the way he was always willing to hold Sirius if he needed it. He had missed the way that Remus would smile shyly when he was proud of his own achievements, the way that he _always _buttered a bit of toast for Sirius before doing his own. He missed the way that Remus could read him perfectly in a glance, knowing instantly how to make him feel better. He had missed _everything _about Remus - from his smile to his scars to the way he would absentmindedly play with Sirius' hair...

'I'm _so _sorry Remus.' Sirius began again softly, feeling incredibly guilty as he looked upon the young man he had betrayed. 'I was terrified of you being discovered, terrified that you'd get taken away and that I'd lose you. I hate that I did that to you Remus, that _I _betrayed you and it's been _so _hard to get up each day hating myself and knowing that you hated me too-'

'-I've_ never _hated you Sirius.' Remus told him, his voice firmer now yet still soft. 'I could never hate you. I love you far too much for that to even be a possibility...I-I was just so hurt that you had revealed me to Snape – that I had nearly _killed _him because of it that-'

'-I swear, Remy' Sirius cut over him. 'I won't ever do anything that reckless ever again.'

'I certainly hope not Sirius...' Remus said quietly. 'I don't think I could take it. But I-I am sorry for distancing myself from you.'

'I understand – It's fine, honest. I don't blame you – I'm shocked that you came back at all.' But then he realised something, what if Remus _wasn't _back for good. What if he had merely wanted to make things easier between them for everyone else's sake or because he was just too damn _nice _for his own good. What if Remus wasn't planning on actually being _with _him again? 'Y-you are-are back aren't you?'

'Of course I am Sirius!' Remus replied firmly, and Sirius felt instantly comforted as the pale young man reached up and placed a soft kiss on his lips. 'I'm back – for good, I promise. I'm sorry for staying away so long.'

'It's fine-I understand-its fine.' Sirius rushed, he understood why Remus had kept his distance and was just focused on them getting back on track now. He couldn't _stand _the idea of ever losing him again.

'No it's not, Sirius. You were so dependent on me before that night, you were getting so much better and then...it happened and I pulled away. Are you still...you know...having the dreams?'

'No,' He told him truthfully, making sure to look Remus in the eye to convey his truthfulness 'I don't think I've been sleeping long enough to have any dreams.' He chuckled, knowing it to be the truth. His mind had been so messed up from not having Remus around that he was fairly sure he'd continue not to have those dreams, knowing now that there were far worse things than even the worst physical pain that Greyback could ever inflict upon him.

Sirius was rather quickly knocked out of his own thoughts as Remus drew him forward into yet another passionate kiss, pressing firmly against him and Sirius responded eagerly, feeling the lust and longing in him pounding away in him, feeling his stomach tighten with longing. Maybe things would be fine after all, maybe Remus really _had _forgiven him for his stupidity and Sirius was certain that he would _never _do anything that stupid again. He never wanted to lose Remus again; he wanted him here with him for good.

Things heated up almost instantaneously, their months of separation and desperate longing for each other taking over. Sirius quickly pulling Remus atop him, enjoying the feeling of having the scarred young man pressed down upon him. He _loved _that feeling, and he was glad to let Remus have the control, to play the dominant partner for a while. He _liked _it like that.

Remus had been the first one to let his hands roam, hands now snaking under Sirius' shirt and slowly tracing circles across his skin. It wasn't long before they had begun undressing each other and it only served to thrill Sirius further.

'Remus...' he moaned lightly against the other young man's neck, feeling an incredible surge of longing and knowing he wanted more. They were both fully unclothed now and Sirius was finally seeing Remus' body fully, scars crisscrossing over his body unevenly and Sirius wished he could kiss them all away, wished that Remus had never had to put up with such pain. Remus was looking unsure, apparently embarrassed by his multitude of scars but Sirius was determined to prove that he didn't care; because he genuinely didn't care. They were a part of Remus and it didn't bother him in the slightest. In fact, regardless of those scares he _wanted _Remus incredibly.

He placed a delicate kiss on one of the larger scars that curved down from his hip and over his thigh before lying down and pulling Remus atop him once more. He knew exactly what he wanted.

'Remus...please.' he whispered and he felt Remus shiver against him with the same longing evident in his beautiful eyes – Merlin how he _loved _those eyes.

They both knew what was coming next...

Sirius awoke the next morning, curled up in the arms of Remus Lupin and feeling incredibly grateful. Remus was _really _back and it hadn't been some cruel dream after all. It was all real; there was certainly no denying _that. _He could quite clearly feel the_ realness_ of it all; he was still aching painfully from the day before.

But whatever pain it had caused was definitely worth it, it had only been painful for a while before the pain had become an undercurrent and not the main feeling that registered; and he had been completely lost in a wild mixture of feelings and sensations. But that was then, and now without the pleasure added into the mix his pain was at the forefront of his mind. It was nearly unbearable but on the other hand he had felt worse pains, it was nothing in comparison with pain he had felt whilst under the _cruciatus _curse.

Sirius reached up slightly, lazily tracing circles on Remus' skin and inhaling deeply. He _loved _the smell of Remus Lupin, but there was another smell lingering also...a smell that would quite clearly notify the others of the previous night's events.

'Good morning,' Remus murmured, still half asleep.

'Morning,' Sirius replied happily, feeling his throat constrict slightly, he couldn't _believe_ he was getting emotional about them being back together again...it was quite silly really considering how emotional he's been over them _not _being together.

'We should probably get up, you know...' Remus told him lightly. 'After all we didn't even stay in classes for a full lesson yesterday.'

'Yeah, we're probably not going to be in the teachers' good books, are we?' Sirius chuckled.

'Probably not, no.' Remus chuckled back and Sirius curled his head into Remus even more, revelling in the feeling of being so close to _his_ Remy.

'I love you Remy,' he told him honestly, holding on to the other young man tightly.

'I love you too Siri,' Remus replied into his hair and Sirius could feel Remus' smile against his head.

'We didn't even close the curtains Remy; we may well have traumatised our fellow dorm mates.' Sirius laughed.

'Oh my...' Remus said suddenly, sitting up and looking incredibly guilty.

'What?' Sirius asked curiously, now sitting up as well and wondering what was going through the scarred young man's mind.

'I charmed the door shut when I came in...'

'Right...' Sirius replied not really getting what Remus was hinting at.

'And I didn't take it off...'

'They've been locked out all night?' Sirius asked disbelievingly.

'Um...yes' Remus blushed and Sirius roared with laughter.

'I-can-just-imagine-James'-face' Sirius choked between his laughs.

'This isn't funny Sirius! They'll have had to sleep in the Common Room.'

'You gotta admit, that _is _pretty funny.' Sirius grinned and he was incredibly relieved when a small smile appeared on Remus' face, showing he was trying to hide his own amusement.

'We should get up and let them in.' Remus smiled softly.

'We should go wash.' Sirius smirked in amusement.

'That too,' Remus chuckled. 'It's early...the Prefect's bathroom is probably empty still.'

'Sounds like a plan to me, Remy,' he smirked.

'That is _not _what I meant Sirius,' Remus laughed.

'I don't know what you mean, Remy,' he said with a smile, feigning innocence.

'I do not believe you _innocent _act for two seconds,' the pale young man chuckled and moved to get out of bed.

Sirius quickly followed suit but soon realised that he didn't want to move at all. Moving was rather _painful_. He groaned slightly and gave a small sigh.

'I hope you're proud of yourself Remy, cus I'm feeling pretty damn sore' he laughed.

'Why?' Remus asked, adopting Sirius' earlier tone and feigning innocence.

'I most _certainly _do not believe _your_ innocentact Remy, I have a sore-'

'-Sirius-' Remus cut over him loudly to block out his next word.

'-To prove it' Sirius finished with a smirk. Remus shook his head at him disapprovingly before beginning to pull clothes out of his trunk.

They hadn't taken too long to throw on their clothes and had been ready to head for the Prefects' bathroom rather quickly.

But when they had reached the Common Room they were surprised to find that James and Peter were nowhere in sight, and Sirius felt rather confused by it all. It was still quite early and he couldn't believe that the other Marauders had got up and left so early. Sure James didn't normally mind wearing the same uniform he had worn in previous days, but he wasn't the type to do so after _sleeping _in them.

In fact, it wasn't until they were washed, dressed and walking into the Great Hall that they had found their fellow Marauders. Pete noticed them first, nudging James hard in the side and nodding his head towards them. James had then turned towards the direction Pete had nodded in and the look of sincere happiness on his James' was incredibly sweet – like a child who had been told he could pick any item from the world's largest toy shop.

Sirius and Remus made their way over to the other Marauders and sat down side-by-side, smiling widely as James grinned at them happily.

'So you guys have made up then?' he asked excitedly.

'Yeah, you could say that.' Sirius smirked and James pushed a bowl of cereal towards Sirius hopefully.

'James,' he said with a sigh. 'Haven't you realised by now that pushing food in front of my face makes eating it seem like a chore and makes it _less _appealing?'

'Just eat it Sirius,' he said plainly and Sirius shrivelled up his nose slightly, he wasn't really in the mood for cereal anyway.

'Maybe in a little while James,' he said casually and James sighed in frustration as Sirius began staring downwards at the table to avoid his stare. He hated when James got upset over his eating habits, it wasn't like he was doing it deliberately to annoy him; Sirius just genuinely didn't want it, he wasn't even hungry in all honesty.

'Toast?' Remus asked him lightly, having just buttered a piece and Sirius smiled softly, it had been a fair while since Remus had done such a thing for him and he readily accepted it, eating the toast without complaint.

'So how exactly do you plan on explaining your disappearances' yesterday?' James asked them with a smirk.

'I'll just explain that I was reconciling with Remus,' he shrugged. 'They can complain all they want but it won't change that I wasn't there and it's really their own time they're wasting if they start complaining.'

'You know, I should probably worry how much you don't care about things like that.' James sighed dramatically.

'I should probably worry that you're such a dramatic ponce.' Sirius teased him in return.

'I am _not _a ponce!' James huffed loudly.

'James just admit it, you're a fucking ponce.' Sirius grinned.

'Yeah? Well you're fucked up Sirius,' James huffed loudly.

'In more ways than one,' Sirius muttered so only Remus would hear him and he got the reaction he wanted. Remus had choked slightly on his pumpkin juice, eyes widening in shock from his words.

'You okay Remus?' James asked looking concerned and Sirius couldn't help but laugh.

'Fine, fine,' Remus lied. 'I swallowed too much juice' Sirius smirked at the endless possibilities of innuendos but decided to let it drop at that – not wanting to embarrass Remus any further.

'So...are we going to be locked out the dorms again tonight?' James asked with a smirk.

'Maybe, it really is a lot easier to sleep without your ridiculously loud breathing, maybe that's what why I haven't been sleeping well until last night' Sirius joked and he quickly received an elbow in his side from Remus.

'No you won't be,' Remus told them looking embarrassed once more. 'I'm _really_ sorry; I forgot to take the charm off after we were done talking.' Sirius resisted the urge to give a snort of laughter; they'd done a hell of a lot more than just _talking_.

'No worries, it's just so we know.' James laughed. 'We actually had quite a nice room to sleep in, didn't we Pete?' he grinned.

'What the Common Room?' Sirius scoffed before Pete had a chance to reply.

'No, we found an entirely new room, a room that isn't even on the map!' James told him proudly.

'What room is that then?' Sirius asked feeling quite intrigued.

'We found the Room of Requirement-' James stated looking highly impressed with his marauding skills.

'-No way!' Sirius over him excitedly, they had read about it in one of James' father's books a few summers earlier and had been searching for it since before he could remember it.

'Yeah, and the strange part is we tried to add it to the map but it wouldn't work... James said, looking truly fascinated by it.

'It must be unplottable.' Remus told them, his eyes lighting up enthusiastically as he joined into the conversation.

'Where is it?' Sirius asked.

'Seventh floor-' James grinned.

'-Show me.'

'No, Sirius,' Remus interjected. 'You've missed quite enough classes as it is, and you're apparently quite far behind in them as well. The Room of Requirement can wait until after classes.' Sirius gave a small sigh but he supposed Remus was probably right.

'I take it Lily kept you informed of my failures in classes then.' Sirius huffed.

'She and the others may have mentioned it but it wasn't exactly hard to pick up on anyway.' Remus replied, handing him a plate of toast. Sirius made a small huffing sound to show he wasn't happy that he would be attending class instead of being allowed to go marauding and began eating his toast quietly.

'Well, off to Care of Magical Creatures we go.' James said cheerfully, he was clearly in a _very _good mood.

'Your optimism for classes worries me, James.' Sirius teased, ignoring his pain as he stood and reached a hand out to help Remus up. He felt an instant jolt of electricity run through him as soon as they touched. It was exhilarating to be able to touch Remus again.

'You know, now that we've made up...I plan on _never _letting you go.' Sirius whispered as they walked out the Great Hall.

'I should hope not' Remus replied with a small content smile.

'You're stuck now, whether you like it or not.'

'I don't mind being stuck...as long as it's with you.' Remus said quietly and that same longing from the previous night seemed to be dancing in his eyes.

'Are we actually going to classes or are you two just going to stand here and act all giddy?' James smirked at them and they both blushed slightly before moving to follow the group's leader.

'See you in charms Remy,' Sirius called loudly as the group separated. Remus didn't reply but the amusement in his expression was more than enough to keep Sirius satisfied...

**This is by far my longest chapter yet! It was fun to write :)**

**Finally they are back together – I know it's only been a few chapters but it feels like an eternity! Also, I got 12 reviews for the last chapter! I was very excited haha!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

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**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	62. Chapter 62 Sirius' Happy Day

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Well, I don't think I've ever been so glad for Care of Magical Creatures to be finished.' Sirius grinned as he and James headed up towards the castle once more.

'I think you may have confused our chubby Professor back there, Padfoot. You've never been so impatient and jumpy in his class before.'

'What can I say; the sun is shining, the skies are blue and-'

'-and you're very overly enthusiastic about everything because you and Moony made up.' James grinned back.

'Shut up Prongs.' Sirius laughed, throwing an arm over his friend's shoulders and using his free hand to hit him over the head.

'Uncalled for Padfoot, that's assault.' He teased.

'Prove it Prongsie.' Sirius laughed back, using his free hand to loosen his tie and open his shirt widely– it was rather warm outside and he wished nothing more than to be back at the Potters' household so he could go for a swim.

'Charms next...right?' James asked, loosening his own tie and proceeding to open his shirt a little.

'Careful there Pronsie, people might think we're doing a strip-tease for them.' Sirius smirked.

'If that lot thought that then they would probably have passed out by now.' James nodded towards a group of Hufflepuffs with a similar smirk playing on his face.

'Most likely after all they are a daft bunch of twits, aren't they?'

'That they are Padfoot, my friend.'

'I know someone who would be particularly interested in you giving them a strip-tease.' Sirius smirked in amusement.

'And who would that be?' James laughed.

'The Giant Squid, of course,' Sirius sighed as if it had been extremely obvious. 'After all, after that one night stand you had with it Prongsie-'

'-No more Pads, it hurts too much to talk of my forgotten love.' James sighed dramatically, pretending to wipe away tears. The two young men then caught each other's eyes and erupted into roars of laughter causing the nearby group of Hufflepuffs to look rather baffled and shake their heads in disbelief.

They had been slightly late for Charms but Professor Flitwick didn't chastise them in the slightest. Sirius got the distinct feeling that it had something to do with them making their way straight to the seats that Remus and Peter had left vacant between them. Flitwick looked surprised and also rather relieved when Sirius took the seat next to Remus, flopping down casually and grinning widely at the scarred young man despite the pain that it had caused him to sit down so carelessly.

'Hello Sirius.' Lily smiled widely from the other side of Remus. 'I see you're in a rather happy mood today.' She laughed.

'Yes, yes I am Petal.' He smiled in return. She looked pleasantly surprised that for once he had used the term _Petal _without any kind of edge to it or without deliberately aiming to annoy her.

'I heard that you and Remus are on far better terms now. I overheard people discussing it before I even got to Ancient Runes. Of course, I had to double check with him once I got there but it turned out to be true.' She looked incredibly amused and Sirius couldn't help but feel bad that he had once been so openly mean to her. Lily Evans wasn't actually that bad when you got to know her – not that he planned on telling anyone that anytime soon.

'Well you heard correctly because we have most definitely made up.' Sirius grinned, resting his head momentarily on Remus' shoulder to prove his point and causing the group to laugh in amusement.

Professor Flitwick then proceeded to have them practice the charm _Aguamenti _for most of the lesson, explaining to them clearly that it was _very _important that they knew it in order to pass their Charms N.E.W.T in the future.

'_Augmenti_.' James said proudly; glad to have a chance to show off in front of Lily Evans. Sirius shifted slightly allowing his elbow to knock James' slightly without the others noticing and causing the jet of water to be directed at Pete.

'James stop!' Pete coughed slightly as the water hit him in the face and Sirius laughed wildly as his chubby friend was soaked with water.

'I am _so _sorry Pete, it was Sirius – he knocked my arm.' James rushed instantly, shooting Pete an apologetic smile.

'James come on, I thought we stopped playing that "game" a long time ago.' Sirius smirked, watching as James spluttered in horror at the idea of Sirius getting away with it.

'You know I think I prefer life when you lot are all quiet and not up to mischief.' Lily added in with a smile.

'And I'm not falling for it Sirius so don't even bother.' Remus chuckled as Sirius' new expression of feigned innocence appeared on his face. Sirius' face split instantly into a grin at his words and watched as Remus went back to attempting the charm. That familiar look of determination was back in his eyes and Remus was _so _close to making it work.

'Remy wait, you're just slightly off.' Sirius told him, placing his hand over the scarred young man's one. 'Right say it.'

'_Aguamenti'_ Remus said quietly, his voice shaking slightly from the unexpected contact.

Sirius then proceeded to move Remus' wrist at a slightly different angle to how Remus had been doing it and the water shot out effortlessly. Remus smiled up at him thankfully, now understanding exactly how to make it work. Their eyes connected instantly and Sirius wanted nothing more than to kiss him right there and then. His hand was still atop Remus' own and without thinking he let his thumb rub slightly over the back of Remus' hand causing him to blush and they both moved their hands quickly, realising that this wasn't the place to start touching each other – especially not today, considering everyone's fascination with seeing the Marauders re-grouped.

'You know, I really have missed you Remy.' Sirius smiled, giving a small contented sigh and propping his head up on his hands, watching Remus closely.

'I missed you too Siri,' he replied back with a small smile adorning his face and quickly tried out the charm once more, perfecting it easily on his own now that he knew what to do.

The class was going quite fast and Sirius found just being in Remus' presence had made the class far more enjoyable.

'Sirius, I'm bored...' James complained loudly.

'Ugh, do we have to go to our next class?' Sirius huffed loudly in a similar tone, remembering rather suddenly that they would be going to Defence Against the Dark Arts after this.

'Unfortunately yes, yes we do.' James sighed dramatically from beside him. 'Unless you'd rather go see my latest discovery...' he smirked wildly.

'No! – Sirius has lots of work to catch up on and you're being a terribly bad influence James.' Remus told him firmly causing James to look quite surprised that Remus had so quickly put him in his place.

'I don't mind Defence Against the Dark Arts too much.' Lily shrugged, steering the conversation away from awkwardness that had begun after James being told off. 'It's better than going to Arithmancy.'

'Well it's your own fault for taking it.' James teased her lightly, making sure to catch her eye show he was joking.

'What did Lily _take_?' Sirius smirked suggestively, pretending to have only caught the end of their conversation.

'Shut up Sirius!' James gasped, looking mortified for Lily who was now blushing bright red but her eyes lit up mischievously all of a sudden and Sirius felt slightly worried.

'_I _didn't _take _anything.' Lily replied with a smirk as she lowered her voice so only their group could hear the conversation 'Unlike _some _people I could mention.' Sirius flushed instantly at her words looking towards Remus disbelievingly. But Remus was refusing to meet his eyes, looking away from him determinedly.

James was now looking between them all in shock, clearly trying to figure out if Lily had meant it in the way he thought. Which she quite clearly had, of course, and Sirius couldn't believe that Remus had actually _told _her that.

'Remy!' Sirius complained unhappily. 'I can't believe you _told _her...that's embarrassing!'

'He didn't tell me anything Sirius, but your reaction was enough to tell me that I was right.' Lily smirked in a great deal of amusement and Sirius couldn't express in words how truly shocked he was by the redhead.

'Wow,' James said in admiration, his eyes lighting up even more than usual as he looked at the redhead before him.

'You are one _sneaky _woman, Petal' Sirius laughed, feeling slightly horrified that he revealed that particular aspect of his and Remus' relationship to the green eyed witch. Peter and James were both looking between the three with such looks of shock that Sirius had to admit it was slightly amusing. But then he realised _very _suddenly that there was no denying it now; if James and Peter had been suspicious of him and Remus before then their suspicions had _definitely_ been confirmed now.

The bell rang loudly, signalling the end of class and they all stood up, gathering their things before heading in the direction of Defence Against the Dark Arts.

'You could have stopped me putting my foot in it, Remy.' Sirius whispered as they walked along the corridor.

'I was hoping that you'd realise that she was tricking you. I couldn't really _say _anything without confirming it for her anyway. I assumed that you would realise that I wouldn't have told her _that_; I mean...it was only last night after all, I'm surprised she even managed to guess so easily...after all we hadn't even done _that _before last night.'

'So you're saying that you'd told her that we hadn't done _that _before?' Sirius smirked, realising that Remus himself had just slipped up. He had to admit that he thought it quite strange that Lily was privy to such information but decided that she probably got it out of Remus in a sneaky manner much like what she had just done to Sirius. She was turning out to be far more _Marauder-like_ material than he had ever thought she would be capable of being.

'I may have mentioned it in the passing.' Remus commented lightly, trying to fight a blush.

'Maybe Lily just gets off on knowing all the sordid details.' Sirius said, talking just loudly enough for Lily - who was directly in front of them - to hear.

'Excuse me!' She huffed looking quite offended and blushing slightly. 'Anything me and Remus have discussed is completely confidential and has nothing to do with you.'

'I think you'll find that it has _everything _to do with me.' He laughed before adding to Remus in a stage-whisper; 'You should be careful, you know, she'll be begging all the saucy details off you later.' This caused the whole group to laugh including the slightly flustered Lily Evans, despite her initial embarrassment.

'Shut up, Sirius,' she smiled, hitting his arm playfully without thinking and then looked worried as she remembered his dislike of physical contact; Sirius was surprised to find that he didn't flinch away from her touch and apparently she was too because she was looking at him closely as if inspecting him in some way.

'Shut up yourself, Petal' he laughed back and he felt Remus give his arm a slight squeeze; he was clearly relieved that they were getting on well now. Apparently Sirius' initial instinct of not wanting Lily around had been rather stupid; now that she knew about him and Remus she seemed to understand a lot better now that it was best not to steal too much of Remus' attention otherwise she'd have to deal with a _very _huffy Sirius Black...

'Sirius Black, you better give me back my damn Snitch this instant.' James bellowed unhappily, jumping from his own bed to Sirius' to catch him and they fell over, landing uncomfortably on Sirius' bed – making Sirius' already hard to ignore pain all the worse. Peter was watching the two young men from his own bed, apparently rather amused by their antics.

'I don't have your Snitch Prongs,' he laughed in amusement. He and James both knew perfectly well that this was a lie but it was incredibly fun to mess with his messy haired friend.

'Padfoot!' he whined unhappily.

'Yes, Prongsie?' he asked innocently.

'I'm gonna get Moony on you!' James huffed loudly.

'Please do, I wouldn't complain.' Sirius smirked.

'That's _not _what I meant.' The bespectacled young man laughed.

'Honestly you two, we could hear your muffled voices half way down the stairs.' Remus chuckled as he and Lily entered the room, having just returned from their Prefect duties.

'James was offering your services to me,' Sirius joked with a wink and Remus raised an eyebrow questioningly before apparently deciding he didn't even _want _to know about their conversation and sitting down on the edge of Sirius' bed.

'I was _not_!' James declared unhappily but his expression soon changed dramatically when Lily chose to sit on _his _bed, opposite Remus. 'So now that we are all _finally _alone, and far from the gossiping population of Hogwarts is there anything the two of you feel you should tell us.' James added, now looking towards Sirius and Remus pointedly.

'Why whatever do you mean?' Sirius asked pretending not to understand. He knew that James and Peter were okay with it now but he couldn't seem to gather to courage to tell the outright. But he found Remus' fingers interlacing with his own and couldn't help but let his eyes be drawn to them.

'Sirius and I...' Remus began awkwardly.

'Are the sexiest people this school has ever seen,' Sirius cut over him earning him a roll of the eyes from the scarred young man. 'And, therefore, have decided that the only people who could possibly deserve us are in fact us. So we have now chosen to participate in a rather homosexual relationship.'

'Of all the ways to describe it Sirius-' Remus began with a sigh, although he was clearly quite amused nonetheless. '-That was not a way I would have expected-' Sirius chose to ignore this and continued his speech to his friends.

'-I assume from your entirely non-startled looks that you were all perfectly aware of this but at least now we can say that we have informed you all _officially _and any scarring to your mental health from now onwards is solely going to be down to your own personal inability to knock before entering a room.' Sirius grinned, feeling rather amused by his mini-statement.

Deciding he may as well choose that moment to demonstrate his point he turned to face Remus and quickly pulled the pale young man into a quick kiss, but hated having to pull away to assess the others' expressions. Remus looked quite startled that Sirius had done this so openly and the others were all completely silent apparently rather shocked by his sudden display as well. He wondered briefly who would be the one to break the awkward silence before Lily laughed lightly.

'Well-' she began awkwardly, apparently unsure what she was expected to say.

'-You didn't give us a chance to knock.' James teased them with a smirk.

'Trust me James a peck with my Remy isn't what you need to knock to avoid seeing.' Sirius replied, his face mirroring James' own.

'So...we're all okay then?' Remus asked unsurely, looking at the still quiet Peter who nodded awkwardly.

'Well, clearly Remus...you're not; because my friend, you have been stupid enough to get yourself lumped with this maniac.' James laughed and Sirius quickly threw his pillow at the bespectacled young man for his mocking.

'Idiot.' James smirked.

'_I'm _the idiot?' Sirius retorted with a similar smirk.

'Yes, because you, my friend, just threw away your pillow.' James laughed.

'I'll swap you your Snitch back for my pillow.' Sirius grinned.

'Deal!' James replied quickly, reaching his hand out to shake on their deal. Sirius took it quite happily and quickly reached under his bed to retrieve the Snitch. They swapped items immediately and Remus rolled his eyes at them in an exasperated fashion.

'The thing is, it's not actually _your _Snitch, is it?' Remus said to James with a smirk and Sirius grinned instantly at his boyfriend's evil genius abilities.

'What do you mean? Whose is it then?' Lily asked the group.

'James nicked it from the school.' Sirius added in; displaying a look or disapproval - that made James glare at him in disbelief - and watched as Lily looked horrified, giving James a _very _disapproving look.

'You better take that back _this instant_.' She said firmly.

'I can't Lily; I've had it for...I dunno... a year or something. I can't very well take it back now.' The bespectacled young man tried to explain.

'Come with me, we are going to take it back and _you _are going to apologise.' Lily said firmly, grabbing hold of James' arm and forcing him to move. James looked partially mortified that he was being forced into such a thing and partially happy because Lily was currently holding onto his arm to assure his cooperation.

'See you later Prongsie!' Sirius grinned, waving his hand mockingly at them as he watched his best friend get half dragged out the room by the redheaded young woman.

'Um...where's the map?' Pete asked awkwardly.

'On my bedside table, I think' Sirius told him flippantly, leaning back to rest his head against Remus contentedly.

'Okay...I'm gonna go grab some food from the Kitchens...you guys want anything?'

'I'm fine Pete, I'm not feeling that hungry anyway.' Sirius shrugged.

'I'd love some chocolate cake if there's any.' Remus smiled. 'Could you bring some extra for Sirius as well?'

'I'm not hungry-'

'-you barely ate anything in the Great Hall.' Remus said disapprovingly. 'So you'll have plenty of room for some cake.' Sirius gave a small sigh, he could have sworn Remus had made him eat as much today as Sirius had ate in the last three or four days.

'I won't be too long.' Pete squeaked out and they both nodded in return as he exited the dormitory at top speed.

Sirius then grinned wildly and turned to Remus happily, quickly proceeded to pin the scarred young man down upon the his red covers.

'Siri, we do _share_ this dormitory with other people you know.' Remus chuckled in amusement, although his eyes were heavy with longing. Had Sirius mentioned how much he _loved _those eyes?

'And like _I _told them; it's their own fault if they don't knock before entering.' He smirked before proceeding to kiss Remus lovingly. It was _great _to have his Remy back.

**Wow, thank you to my reviewers – I got fourteen reviews for ONE chapter (grins happily, that's me happy for a long time)**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**moon12345**

**xxMOONandPAWxx**

**spot'scrazygril**

**Kombinant**

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**GiggleNo9**

**Big thanks to the anonymous reviewers who I can't reply to – it's appreciated!**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	63. Chapter 63 The Full Moon

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!!!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Oh where oh where has my Padfoot gone?' James was singing loudly as he crept along through the Forbidden Forrest. Sirius stifled a laugh at the boy's song and tried to remain calm; breathing heavily would only get him noticed quicker. They were currently in the Forbidden Forrest playing hide and seek to give them something to do before meeting Remus for his transformation.

'Oh where oh where could he be?' James continued, and Sirius could practically hear the smirk in his voice as he sung.

'With his laugh so cruel and his hair so long...oh where oh where could he be.' Deciding he no longer cared about being found he transformed instantly into his animgus form and bounded towards his messy haired friend – knocking him over and licking his face.

'Get off me you evil git!' James laughed loudly and Pete crept out from his hiding spot with a small smile.

'Does that mean I won then Padfoot? Cus technically you were seen first.' Sirius stopped licking his friend and raised his head giving a small bark to show that his jumping out James _didn't _count as being caught and the other two Marauders both laughed at his actions.

'Bugger off Padfoot.' James smirked, shoving the dog off of him and Sirius immediately gave a loud whining noise, pretending to be injured by his friend's shove.

'Don't even try that Pads, no one's falling for it.' Sirius had figured as much and quickly moved towards him, giving James a begging look.

'What? I don't have anything for you Padfoot.' James laughed, his messy hair shaking along with him as he reached down and patted Padfoot's head. Sirius wasn't complaining in the slightest, he quite liked being pat. But James stopped quickly and pulled back his sleeve, looking at his watch quickly.

'It's pretty much time now.' James commented. 'We should get going; Pomfrey will be leaving the willow soon.

Sirius didn't bother to transform back into his human state, everyone would be inside now anyway and he padded along to where they usually waited. Sure enough, it wasn't long before Madame Pomfrey left the Whomping Willow. Sirius quite liked Pomfrey, she wasn't just doing it because she'd been instructed she seemed to genuinely care about Remus' welfare and didn't seem bothered at all by his lycanthropy. They waited until she was well out of sight before James turned towards the other two.

'We ready?' James asked; looking down at him and Sirius gave a small bark to show he was. He was feeling incredibly impatient. It was his first time with Remus on the full moon since before the _incident_ and he was looking forward to playing with his Moony.

'C'mon then,' James smiled and nodded at Pete who quickly transformed and headed off to open up the willow for them. It was far easier than when they had to do it themselves.

Once they were inside Sirius bolted straight up to the bedroom where he knew Remus would be sitting, as he always did, covered with a blanket to keep him warm; looking pale and exhausted.

Sirius transformed straight into his human form and hopped up onto the bed beside him, wrapping an arm around him comfortingly.

'I'm worried Siri,' Remus whispered quietly.

'Why?'

'Because...because it's the first time you've been here in months and...and I don't know if the wolf side of me is going to be very happy to see you. It knows Siri, it knows everything.' The pale young man told him fearfully.

'It's okay Remy, don't worry about it. Everything will be fine.' He said soothingly.

'You don't know that,'

'I promise you Remy, when you wake up tomorrow I'll be right here and teasing you for getting so worried.' He smiled softly.

After the first transformation they had spent together in their fifth year Remus had been very clear on the fact that he didn't want the group in the room until he was transformed, because he didn't want the others to see the multiple scars that criss-crossed across his body and the other marauders had accepted this without complaint, clearly understanding Remus' need for privacy. But even then when they had barely started their relationship Sirius had ignored his words and had made a point of always being there early enough to come up to the room and see him before the transformation. He couldn't imagine sitting downstairs and waiting for Remus to transform, he knew perfectly well that he wouldn't be able to do it. He _needed _to be there when Remus transformed, needed to be there before it to hold Remus close and comfort him before the pain.

'Change Sirius, now!' Remus said suddenly and Sirius knew it was away to begin.

'I love you Remy,' Sirius whispered into his ear, kissing his neck lightly before moving away and giving him room. 'It's started! He shouted loudly to alert the others before transforming into his dog form and waiting as he watched Remus go horribly rigid, his head and body beginning to lengthen and the fur beginning to come through his skin. Sirius lowered himself, whining loudly as he heard the cracking of Remus' bones. He hated seeing Remus go through such pain, it practically ripped his heart in half to know there was nothing he could do to stop it or lessen the pain. There was only word that could describe how he felt when watching Remus transform...helpless.

It took a few minutes before the transformation stopped and Moony howled loudly having just felt the pain of the transformation. It was then that Sirius could hear thudding on the stairs as Prongs came rushing up to the room with Wormtail sat upon his back.

Moony leapt forwards like he always did, sniffing wildly at Prongs and waiting for him to show his willingness to be dominated. Prongs bent slightly, lowering his head and Moony seemed happy enough, not even bothering to acknowledge Wormtail, before turning back to face Padfoot.

Padfoot immediately tried to make himself as low as possible, feeling more intimidated than usual as Moony moved towards him with a low growl. He could the others' eyes on him and Moony and it felt like an eternity before Moony reached him, circling him slowly.

Padfoot whined in panic and Prongs stamped one of his hooves to try and draw Moony's attention but the Werewolf didn't acknowledge the stag and moved towards him threateningly. He immediately thought back to what Remus had said before he transformed. Moony knew that it was Sirius who had betrayed them, knew that it was Sirius' fault he had been teased with human flesh that night.

He suddenly had the instinct to flee but he was trying desperately to ignore it. The last thing he wanted was to cause Moony to chase him. There was no way he could outrun the Werewolf, even when restricted to human form Remus was incredibly fast and he didn't want to experience how fast Moony could be when he wanted.

Moony leapt forward suddenly, sinking his teeth into Padfoot's side and causing Padfoot to yelp in pain, jumping instantly. But Moony refused to let him go, choosing next to bite him in the leg and this wasn't like any of the bites he had received in the past. Today they bites weren't playful at all, they were full clearly _meant_ to hurt, meant to punish him for his betrayal.

He wanted to flee so badly, but he stood up shakily determined to grit his teeth and bear it. If he fled now then that was it, he wouldn't be able to come back again on transformations. He had to stay here and take his punishment if he wanted to remain part of the Werewolf's pack.

It was several bites down the line that Prongs moved forward; knocking the Werewolf to try and stop the never ending attacks but Moony knocked him over effortlessly before turning back to Padfoot. The Werewolf continued his attacks and before long Padfoot could begin feeling himself starting to become dizzy from the loss of blood.

Deciding that he was just going to have to risk it and prove his willingness to be controlled by the Werewolf, he turned onto his side and let his head fall back. Allowing himself to be put completely at risk as the Werewolf lowered his muzzle, trailing it along his neck to show his dominance. Moony could kill him at any moment if he wanted and he felt incredibly terrified, a small whimper escaping from him as he waited for Moony's decision on what to do.

The Werewolf moved its muzzle lower and further along the dog's body before stopping at the large bite it had inflicted upon his side. He felt himself give another yelp as Moony pressed his muzzle to it and looked up at him before a small whine came, this time from the Werewolf, and Padfoot moved slowly so as not to make the Werewolf get defensive again.

He shuffled forward, remembering to keep himself lowered as he did, until they were muzzle to muzzle and he could have sworn for a split second that it had been Remus and not Moony staring back at him, but that thought was soon gone and he could feel the Werewolf's conflicting emotions through that stare. Padfoot gave a small sad whine and proceeded to lick the Werewolf's bloody muzzle. He was thoroughly surprised when Moony allowed him to clean his muzzle completely before suddenly knocking him over and he wondered briefly is the Werewolf was going to begin his attacks once more...

But he didn't. He lowered his muzzle to the dog's wounds and began cleaning them carefully and Padfoot felt himself relax instantly, letting his eyes close, feeling completely and utterly exhausted...

'Oh my goodness!' Remus' panicked voice broke through Sirius' sleepy mind and he opened his eyes. Realising instantly that he was still in his dog form he transformed and felt the pain hit him instantly.

'I told you the wolf would hurt you! You should have left as soon as things got out of hand' Remus was saying, looking tearful and worried.

'It's fine Remy; Moony was just punishing me to show me that I wasn't to betray you ever again.' Sirius groaned, forcing himself to sit up despite his pain and he could feel Remus' worried eyes on him still.

'You're not coming next time,' Remus said shakily. 'I-I won't let you get hurt like this again.'

'It's fine Remy honestly-'

'-But-'

'-No, listen Remy, everything is okay I promise. Moony's forgiven me now. The wounds will heal quickly enough-'

'-You need to go to the hospital wing and get them cleaned up.' Remus told him quietly.

'Firstly, I'm not going to go spilling the whole Animgus secret to Pomfrey, and secondly, they are clean. Moony cleaned them for me.'

'Really?' the pale young man asked warily.

'I promise Remy, everything's fine.'

'O-okay,' he could see that Remus was clearly still horrified over what had happened and Sirius was quick to wrap his arms around his boyfriend, holding him close. 'Where are the others?'

'No idea, they must have headed up to the castle already...probably didn't want to be around and have to explain what happened.'

'Most likely,'

'I love you Remy,' he said quietly.

'I love you too Siri...you need to get going.' His boyfriend replied sadly and Sirius nodded knowing that he had to leave.

'I'll see you later on, yeah?' he smiled sadly.

'I don't have any injuries so I'll try and make it to classes.' Remus replied and Sirius shook his head in disbelief, wishing that Remus would just take the day off to recover.

He reached forward and kissed Remus softly, pouring his emotions into that small kiss; trying desperately to give Remus some form of comfort before hearing a sudden noise downstairs.

'Oh no...' Remus whispered worriedly.

'Shit, Pomfrey!' Sirius gasped.

'Transform!' Remus told him quickly and he did, trusting that Remus had some form of plan.

'Under the bed quick,' Remus instructed and Sirius couldn't help but marvel at Remus' quick thinking. He wouldn't have managed it quickly enough in human form but in his transformed state he got under the bed with time to spare as Pomfrey entered the room.

'Good morning Mr Lupin, definitely an improvement on recent month's transformations. No marks at all...I am surprised.' She smiled warmly and Sirius was thoroughly shocked. Madame Pomfrey wasn't usually that nice to people. He supposed Remus had special treatment from being treated so often by her.

'Yes, much better, good enough to go to classes I'd say.' Remus tried and Sirius would have grinned if he'd been in his human form. Remus was incredibly good at getting his own way and Sirius wasn't in the slightest bit surprised when Pomfrey agreed to his request warily.

'Where were you guys last night?' Lily asked them all unhappily when she found three out of the four marauders sitting in the Great Hall.

'Dunno what you mean, Petal' Sirius shrugged as she down beside him, looking straight across from her where James and Peter were sitting.

'I spent half my night looking for you guys, I mean, Remus has an excuse, obviously. But where did the rest of you get to?' she asked looking slightly hurt.

'Sorry for not including you Petal,' Sirius apologised automatically. 'We went for a wander in the Forbidden Forrest, couldn't really tell you otherwise we would have put you in an awkward position...what with you being a Prefect and all.'

James was looking at him at him appreciatively apparently very glad that Sirius could come out with stuff and make it sound so plausible.

'I can't believe you would do something so stupid! You wait 'til I tell Remus what you did!' she said threateningly to the group before focusing on Sirius; 'You're going to get yourself killed one day with your thoughtless behaviour, Sirius.'

'Oh and I suppose your death will be all noble then?' Sirius scoffed. 'You gonna kill all the bloody death eaters single handed? Or wait...maybe you're gonna cause the downfall of you-know-who all on your own?' She made a loud huffy noise at his sarcastic remark and turned towards James disapprovingly.

'I would have thought you'd have had more sense' she accused the bespectacled teen.

'Are you suggesting that I, Sirius Black, am not sensible?' Sirius gasped in mock horror and she gave him a look that suggested he should shut up if he knew what was best for him.

'I thought you'd finally grown up, but apparently I was wrong.' She said unhappily to James and the messy haired young man looked genuinely hurt by her words.

'Shut up, Petal. You don't know what you're talking about.' Sirius snapped at her and she looked rather taken aback. But Sirius didn't care; he wasn't going to let her hurt James like that. James was practically a brother to him and he certainly didn't deserve to be upset by Lily Evans of all people.

'So I'm not allowed to have an opinion?' she replied haughtily.

'I never said that, I'm just suggesting that you don't shove your opinion down other people's throats.' He replied shortly.

'What's going on?' a voice said from behind him and Sirius turned to see Remus looking down at them all worriedly.

'Nothing,' Sirius told him quickly, shifting over to let him sit down beside him. 'We were just having a lover's tiff.' He joked and Lily rolled her eyes at him in disbelief.

'So you and Lily are lovers now?' Remus asked looking slightly amused but he could tell Remus was going to question him about the nature of his and Lily's _tiff _later on.

'Well, she wanted James originally...but of course he already had the giant squid so-' but he was cut off as James hit him over the head for the giant squid remark.

'I'm terribly sorry Jamsie, was your love affairs with giant squid supposed to be a secret?' he laughed and Remus smiled weakly, still looking extremely tired from the previous night's transformation. Sirius suddenly found that he didn't care in the slightest about waiting for James reply and turned to Remus straight away.

'You okay, Remy.' He asked softly, placing a hand on the pale young man's arm and looking at him worriedly.

'I'm fine, just a bit tired.' His boyfriend assured him calmly.

'You should just take the day off Remy, you don't look so good.'

'Thanks,' Remus joked. 'Just what I like to hear,' and Sirius immediately draped an arm over Remus' shoulders, attempting to make it look casual and hoping it would be enough to cheer Remus up a little.

'I'm fine, honestly. I'll be as good as new once I've had something to eat.' The scarred young man said lightly and Sirius immediately retracted his arm and began spreading toast for his boyfriend. This was the second of the two days of the month that their roles changed and Sirius would be the one to butter Remus' toast instead of the other way around. On these days it would be Sirius who would fret and worry over Remus, making sure he ate properly and got enough sleep; mothering him like a small child.

'Thank you, Siri,' he smiled weakly as he accepted the toast and Sirius realised that the group had completely stopped arguing now. He looked up to notice Lily Evans' green eyes focusing on him; she was watching him closely and looking at him with an unreadable expression.

'What?' he asked feeling slightly uncomfortable under her gaze and she leaned forward to speak quietly so no one else would hear.

'See, I told you that you had a sweet side.' She smiled softly at him and Sirius chuckled, remembering their conversation outside the shrieking shack. 'Especially when it comes to Remus.'

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**GiggleNo9**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**Hyperteenager24**

**padz-nd-prongs**

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**Siredna**

**xxMOONandPAWxx**

**Neko Ninja Hezza**

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**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	64. Chapter 64 Farewells and Broken Promises

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Siri, don't go to sleep you git!' James huffed loudly from the seat opposite his own. They were currently on the train back to Platform 9 and ¾ and Sirius had found himself succumbing to sleep rather quickly.

'Leave him alone James,' Lily chided him, looking up from her book to send him a disapproving look.

'But if he sleeps then he'll just spend the summer complaining that he wasted his time with everyone on the train.' James countered quickly.

'I'm awake, I'm awake.' Sirius mumbled unhappily. 'Blame Remus, it's not my fault he's so damn comfy.'

'You don't _have _to spend the train journey using me as a pillow, you know.' Remus countered with a small smile.

'But Remy,' he explained slowly, 'that would just be a waste of a perfectly good pillow.'

'Silly git,' the pale young man muttered affectionately.

'Love you too, Remy.' He grinned widely and watched happily as Remus rolled his eyes at him.

'I'm glad to see you're in a better mood than you were earlier on.' James commented. 'You were being a right whiny git before we left.'

'Well, leaving Hogwarts is very traumatic for me.' Sirius sighed dramatically.

'Why? You gonna be depressed at the having to sleep in your own bed for once?' James smirked and the others laughed at his words.

'Yeah...I might have to sneak into yours Jamsie,' Sirius winked mockingly.

'Eww Sirius,' James laughed. 'That's practically incest – we're brothers in all but blood...plus I think your boyfriend might not be too happy with that.'

'He doesn't mind me climbing into bed with you as long as we wait 'til he's there to watch.' Sirius joked and was quickly hit over the head by a rather disapproving Remus Lupin.

'Sirius, you're a pig.' Lily laughed.

'Actually I'm a dog not a pig.' He joked and watched as the others all shot him glares for his stupid reference to his Animagus form, but Lily, of course, didn't understand and just laughed at what she presumed to be the randomness of Sirius Black.

'So, anybody got any interesting plans over the summer?' she asked lightly.

'Some...' James grinned in amusement and Sirius felt immediately suspicious about the bespectacled young man's behaviour.

'I was thinking...if you lot weren't busy that is...that maybe we could all meet up at some point. You know, have a day out somewhere.' Lily suggested, clearly attempting to sound flippant.

'You, Lily Evans, are a genius!' Sirius shouted enthusiastically, jumping up from where he had been resting against Remus and grinning happily.

'Um...thanks, I suppose.' she replied unsurely, clearly confused by his actions.

'Care to elaborate on that one, mate?' James laughed.

'Well Remus can't come stay over at your house 'til later-'

'Because of his _furry little problem-' _James added.

'-Yeah but that doesn't mean we can't just go off wandering during the summer, we can just have lots and lots of days out without Remus having to explain why he can't stay on certain days'

'I suppose...after all, we do have our apparating licences now...apart from Pete, of course, but we can work something out.'

'I'm sure Sirius would prefer other methods of travel anyway.' Remus added in with a knowing smile and James grinned back at him, causing Sirius to feel confused further.

'Anyway,' Sirius cut back in. 'the point is, we can spend plenty of time together, Lily too.' He smiled at her and the look of pure happiness at being included in their plans was enough to make Sirius want to hug the redhead. Well...almost.

'We can do lots of things,' James nodded enthusiastically. 'We can camp out again like we did the summer before third year, except we're older now so we can go somewhere other than my garden.' The group all laughed at his words and James grinned even more, loving the attention.

'Yeah, and we can have days out to the beach, and to the zoo-'

'-there is no way I'm going to trust you at a zoo, Siri.' James laughed but Sirius ignored his messy haired friend.

'And we can go out to the countryside for picnics, and maybe we could go up to Scotland, I've always wanted to swim in a loch and-'

'-I think we get it Siri,' Remus smiled softly, placing a calming hand on Sirius' shoulders. But Sirius couldn't seem to help his rambling, he was _so _excited. He had never got a chance to do any _normal _stuff when he was younger; his parents had never really been the type to take their children for a _day out._

_'_We should go back to the carnival as well! Although you didn't really like it, did you Remus?' he remembered quickly, turning to look at the scarred young man beside him. He distinctly remembered Remus feeling sick after the rollercoaster.

'I don't mind, just as long as you aren't expecting me to go on those rollercoaster's again.'

'Yeah, and try not to kill any muggles, Siri,' James added in with a smirk and Sirius realised he had completely forgotten about the staring muggles until that point; feeling himself tense slightly at the memory of them staring at Remus like he was some sort of animal in a zoo.

'Of all the things to mention, it had to be that didn't it James.' Remus sighed in exasperation.

'Sorry, I didn't think.' James explained quickly, now looking incredibly guilty for bringing it up.

'Why, what happened with the muggles?' Lily asked; her brow furrowed in confusion as she spoke.

'They were staring at me,' Remus said quietly, subconsciously playing with Sirius' hair as he spoke.

'And making stupid comments...stupid fucking morons!' Sirius exclaimed unhappily but he found that the gentle strokes of Remus fingers through his hair was incredibly relaxing and couldn't seem to summon his anger properly due to this distraction.

'Anyway...' Remus said quietly, clearly trying to change subject. 'When should we meet up?'

'I'd say we should probably all spend a few days with our families first, then Sirius can meet Lily somewhere – we can decide where through letters – and then the three of us will meet up, get Sirius' present and then go meet them.' James grinned happily.

'OH!' Sirius shouted gleefully. 'I completely forgot about the other present!'

'What present?' Lily asked looking incredibly confused.

'For my seventeenth birthday, they all put money together and said I would get my proper present in the summer.'

'And Sirius will be very happy to go home now that he's getting a present' James teased him, reaching forward and messing up his hair. 'I even convinced my parents to willingly give me money for it'

'Hands off the hair James,' Sirius joked before turning to Remus. 'Do you still have it?'

'Yes Sirius, it's perfectly safe I assure you.' Remus smiled back in clear understanding.

'You kept it?' Sirius smiled happily, referring to when they had gone three months without speaking.

'Of course I did, I had no doubts that we would get back together...I just didn't know how long it would take.' Remus replied softly, their eyes connecting as he spoke.

'I did. I doubted it...I'm sorry.' Sirius whispered back sadly and quickly felt himself being pulled into a firm kiss. Remus' lips were warm and loving beneath his own and he smiled against them before responding and kissing the scarred young man back just as firmly.

He could feel Remus' hand tangling in the back of hair, his free hand reaching up to push Sirius' ever growing hair out of his face.

'Hey, guys.' James voice was calling but Sirius ignored him, reaching out to pull Remus closer. 'Guys! You're supposed to give us a chance to knock!' James' laughter could be heard loud and clear and Sirius and Remus pulled apart at his laughter, both slightly flustered.

It was then that the train came to a sudden halt and the familiar scenery of platform 9 and ¾ could be seen clearly through the compartment window.

'Well, this is the last stop.' James joked. 'Come on guys...'

'No, just us three...we should move James.' Pete told him pointedly, indicating the two of them and Lily

'He's right let give them have a minute alone.' Lily explained quietly and James looked at them momentarily before giving them a small smile and nodding his head.

'Sure thing, see you guys on the platform.' And with that the three friends walked out, closing the door behind them and allowing the remaining two people a few moments along.

'Looks like this is the last we'll be seeing of each other for a while.' Sirius said sadly.

'Yes,' Remus replied. 'I suppose this it for a while now.'

'Remy...' Sirius whispered quietly, leaning towards the scarred young man lovingly.

'Yes?' Remus replied, his hot breath lingering on Sirius lips as he spoke.

'I love you Remy.' And with those words Sirius captured Remus' lips with his own, pulling Remus as close to him as humanly possible and letting his hands reach up to hold Remus' head in his hands. Remus quickly reciprocated, pressing firmly against him and kissing him slowly, pouring all his emotions into their kiss and causing Sirius to gasp in surprise at how passionate it was despite its tameness.

The kiss continued to deepen and it wasn't until they heard a rather startled gasp of surprise that they pulled apart, looking towards the now open compartment door to find a small girl looking up at them in shock. She then turned and fled and the two young men looked at each other in surprise before Sirius was suddenly overtaken by laughter.

'Sirius don't laugh, she's probably very embarrassed from seeing us like that, not to mention probably quite confused.'

'She'll forget about it eventually...she was clearly a first year.' Remus made a small noise to show his agreement and Sirius only laughed more as he imagined the little girl's face once more.

'Well, that's someone else to add to the list of people who know about us.' Remus said, looking slightly worried.

'It doesn't matter Remy, she's just a little girl...even if she did mention it to anyone no one would believe her.' Remus still looked unsure and Sirius grinned before adding; 'After all, I'm one of the most sought after guys that Hogwarts has ever had.'

'And so modest too,' Remus chuckled and Sirius grinned happily before planting another kiss on Remus' lips although this time much softer and quicker.

'I love you too Siri,' Remus whispered as they parted; referring clearly to Sirius' earlier declaration.

Realising there was nothing he could say that he couldn't clearly express in actions anyway Sirius smiled and tugged Remus' arm to hint that they should get off the train.

'Sirius!' Mrs Potter called happily upon seeing him, rushing forward to see him better and moving to hug him before stopping short. She clearly wasn't sure whether Sirius would accept physical contact yet.

'Hi Mrs P,' he grinned, but he made sure not to move too close to her. He didn't feel ready to let her touch him yet but he still felt incredibly happy to see her.

'Honestly, anyone would think you didn't want to leave the train, considering how long you took to get off.' She smiled knowingly and Sirius thought straight back to the conversation he and Remus had had the previous summer...maybe she did suspect them of being in a relationship after all.

'And Remus; it's nice to see you again. Will you be coming to stay with us at some point in the summer?' she continued kindly.

'Hello, it really is lovely to see you again, Mrs Potter. I certainly wouldn't mind coming to stay, if you were willing to have me, that is.' Remus smiled politely and Sirius caught James' eye to share a smirk with the messy haired young man. Remus was always so good at making good impressions with people.

'Oh Remus, dear, that certainly wouldn't be a problem. We love having you boys over to stay.' She smiled warmly before turning to the other two. 'You best say your goodbyes then, we need to get going.'

'Sure thing mum,' James nodded and pulled Remus into a tight hug. 'I'll write to you tonight, so we know where to meet and stuff.'

'Okay,' Remus replied with a smile before letting his eyes drift slightly towards Sirius and adding something else to James in a voice that was too quiet for Sirius to decipher.

'Don't get yourself worried about it Remus.' James said firmly before letting him go and Sirius saw Remus nod slightly before James moved out of the way to allow Sirius to say goodbye.

Even though they had already shared a goodbye of sorts on the train, Sirius wished he could have kissed Remus right there and then but settled for pulling the scarred young man into his arms, holding him close and inhaling that Remus-y scent that he loved so much. He wouldn't smell it for a while now and that was something he _knew _he was going to miss dearly.

'Don't stay away too long, Remy' he whispered sadly.

'We'll be together soon, Siri. As soon as I can come see you guys I will.' Remus replied in just as quiet a voice and Sirius momentarily wondered if he would even be able to let go now. Not knowing that as soon as he did they would be going their separate ways.

'Make sure you write to me about...you know...your _furry little problem_.' Sirius told him quietly and Remus chuckled in amusement.

'I will, and you better do whatever James tells you Sirius.'

'What do you mean?' Sirius asked feeling quite bewildered.

'It doesn't matter, just make sure you listen to him and don't get huffy when he tells you to do things – he's just looking out for you.'

'I don't know what I'm gonna do without you Remy,' he sighed.

'Butter your own toast?' Remus joked lightly; a small amused smirk appearing on his face when Sirius pulled a huffy face. Sirius felt incredibly frustrated, he wanted to kiss the scarred young man in front of him, wanted to kiss away the smirk from his face.

'Come on boys, it won't be long before Remus can join us at our house.' Mrs Potter said in an amused tone and Remus pulled out of his arms instantly at her words, leaving Sirius feeling rather deflated.

'See you, Remy.' Sirius said sadly as he watched his boyfriend grab his trunk once more.

'See you _soon_, Siri.' Remus corrected with a sad smile and he then turned and walked away to find his own mother in the crowd of students.

'Come on boys,' Mrs Potter said in a very business-like manner. 'Let's go home.' A year ago Sirius would have felt incredibly happy to hear such words, to hear that he had been accepted like a second son and that he had a _real _home to go to. But not now, now he couldn't envision it as his home...his home wasn't with the Potters, _his _home was wherever Remus was...

'Ah there you are! What took you so long?' Mr Potter asked from his armchair in the sitting room; folding his copy of the Daily Prophet and placing it on the table.

'The short goodbyes weren't very short.' Mrs Potter replied with a small smile.

'James, where's your father's hug?' Mr Potter smiled widely and James laughed in return before throwing his arms around the elderly man with a grin.

'Did we have any visitors while I was gone?' Mrs Potter asked; her voice determinedly casual and the two young men's curiosities were sparked instantly.

'No dear, no visitors today.' Mr Potter replied in a similar tone.

'What do you mean visitors? We never have visitors.' James said bluntly, flopping down onto the couch and hinting for Sirius to join him. So he did, relaxing into the familiarly over-cushioned chairs.

'Well-' Mr Potter began apprehensively.

'-He doesn't need to know.' Mrs Potter cut over her husband quickly; 'they don't need to know about such things.'

'The walls of Hogwarts won't remain oblivious forever.' Mr Potter said firmly to her. 'And these boys know plenty of things that people their age shouldn't.' Sirius felt himself tense instantly at his words. It was clear to Sirius that by that Mr Potter was referring to the problems Sirius had faced the summer before.

'Fine, I just wanted to protect them.' She sniffed unhappily.

'Sometimes, trying to protect people only makes situations more difficult than they already were' Mr Potter told her quietly. Sirius couldn't help but wish he had heard such words before his mess with Remus...but those thoughts soon disappeared when Mr Potter turned to face them.

'We've been getting visits from...well, from certain witches and wizards with whom we wouldn't normally associate ourselves with.'

'What kind of people?' James asked looking confused.

'Dark people James, death eaters. They arrived here claiming that they have the right way of thinking, trying to coerce us into joining them, trying to convince us that it would be in our best interests to do so.'

'But those people are dangerous!' James exclaimed. 'We should leave. Go stay with a relative or something.'

'I wouldn't bring danger to their doors nor will I be chased out of my own home by _pureblood _lunatics.' Mr Potter now looked incredibly angered and Sirius had to admit he looked pretty damn scary.

'I know you don't want to leave,' Sirius began quietly. 'But James is right, these people _are_ really dangerous. Staying here will only allow them to be persistent; they won't leave you alone until you agree to join with them and what's worse, they'll be more likely to keep appearing now that we're here. They'll want to use us to force you to join.'

'He's right dad, these people are psychopaths. They'll stop at nothing to get what they want. The death eaters are well connected, they have contacts that you couldn't even imagine, and if we stay here you'll keep resisting and they'll just get even angrier with you than they are already. They'll send people after us to get revenge on the two of you for refusing to join them.'

'James,' Sirius tried to cut in, feeling like this was going to get too detailed.

'They have all sorts of people on their side, monsters like Greyback for one – and I'd much rather we sucked up our pride and left than tried to be noble and got attacked by that psycho'

'Who?' Mrs Potter asked looking rather confused; her husband's face reflecting a similar expression.

'Greyback; he's a Werewolf-' James started and Sirius felt his heart rate speed up instantly.

'-James shut up!' he said forcefully but James had a look of determination set in his eyes and his parent's were beginning to look wary; most likely wondering why this _Greyback _person was causing such a division between the two young men in front of them.

'Sirius, they're my family. I need to explain to them how much danger they're putting themselves in – that's what's important here.'

'James I swear on Merlin's _fucking_ grave you better shut the hell up before I-' Sirius growled.

'-But if I explain to them about what happened with _his_ family then they'll realise not to mess with these idiots!'

'I don't give a shit James; you are _not _dragging him into this!' Sirius snarled in warning and James' parents looked thoroughly shocked by his apparent personality switch.

'Sirius, I would _never _say anything I thought would riskhim coming to any harm. But I need to be able to explain Sirius; I need to make them understand how far these people will go for revenge.'

'I will _not _let you betray his trust James!' Sirius growled furiously.

'Oh yeah, that's rich coming from _you_.' James snapped back defensively and Sirius could see the horror in James' expression, instantly caused by his own words. 'I'm sorry Siri, I-I didn't m-mean to-' James spluttered, looking horrified by words; his eyes filling up with regret rapidly.

'-I may have made mistakes James, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stand here and let you make them too.' Sirius said in a low, dangerous voice. 'I already messed things up once and I'm not letting _anything _mess things up for a second time.'

'I know Siri – I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up-'

'-you were clearly still thinking it regardless.' Sirius replied quietly; he couldn't possibly explain how much it hurt to know that the _incident_ would always hang over them, and he turned to face James' parents straight away to avoid thinking about it. 'Just...just listen to us, okay. We need to get away from here...'

James' parents looked genuinely shocked by Sirius' pleads and were looking at each other unsurely.

'We can't explain things thoroughly because it's not our information to share, but you _have _to trust us on this one. If we stay here things will get bad and fast. I love you guys more than I _ever _loved my own family, but I can't stay here with these things going on...and I'm sure as hell not letting James stay here either.'

'It's against every bone in my body to leave this place; I'm not going to yield to these madmen.' Mr Potter said firmly.

'Then we're going.' Sirius stated.

'Sirius-' James began awkwardly.

'-No James! You _know _what these people are capable of, and I-I promised Remus I would _never_ put myself in that kind of situation again. But I can't leave you here either...I can't do this without you James.' He finished weakly, looking at his best friend pleadingly.

'Sirius I-I-' James stuttered unsurely.

'James _please_, please don't make me choose. I _can't_ walk away from you knowing that you'll end up hurt but if I break my promise...I just can't bear the idea of messing things up between us again...I-I don't know if we can't handle this right now, not so soon after-after everything else that's happened.'

'Sirius-' the messy haired boy began weakly.

'I mean it James! It's like you said; we're brothers in all but blood, and I can't turn my back on you. But I-I don't want to lose him again...' Sirius broke off quietly, he could feel his eyes stinging but there was no way he was going to let himself cry...it had happened far too many times in the last few months and he wasn't going to let it happen anymore.

James was silent, conflicting emotions upon his face; deep in thought. He wasn't the only one either. James' parents were looking at Sirius closely, clearly wishing to understand what Sirius had been referring to with himself and Remus. Mrs Potter looked particularly worried and he looked away from her, determined not to let himself fall prey to his emotions.

He couldn't leave James behind, not knowing that the death eaters could show up any day and try to coerce all three Potters into joining them. Not knowing that his best friend could end up hurt, tortured...or worse. It killed him to even consider betraying his promise to Remus but he would if he had to.

'I-I'm sorry Sirius I-I _can't _leave,' James blurted out.

'James _please _don't make me do this-'

'-They're my family Sirius I can't just leave. I wouldn't be able to bear not knowing, the entire time wondering if they were in danger or not.'

'Fine James,' Sirius said shortly.

'Siri-'

'-Like I said James, I can't go without you. I _won't _leave without you.' Sirius told him, ignoring the stinging in his eyes and refusing to cry.

'Siri...I don't wanna be the reason for you and Remus to fall out again...'

'Forget it James, you can't say anything that's gonna change things.'

'I'm sorry...' James whispered, his eyes filling up with tears as he looked up at Sirius pleadingly, trying to make him understand.

And he did understand. Sirius understood perfectly well why James didn't want to leave, he couldn't imagine how much it would hurt James to leave right now but he wished desperately that he would. Wished that he had just agreed and they had left, not that they would really have anywhere to go but they were animgus' they could have just spent their summer as animals if they couldn't find somewhere to stay. Without another word he stood and went upstairs to unpack.

He flopped down onto the comfy bed with a sigh, sleeping was going to be a hard feat without Remus as it was, and knowing that he had broke his promise to his boyfriend only made things all the worse.

**Mwahahaha, yes I really am that cruel :P I have less than an hour til my English exam today and yet I'm on here posting one of my longest chapters yet XD That's probably not a very clever idea haha**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	65. Chapter 65 Scars and Super Sirius

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Sirius Black you git, you could have woke me up!' James Potter complained as he sat down next to Sirius at the kitchen table. It was a week and a half into the holidays and today they were going to the beach with their friends.

'I thought you could do with some beauty sleep before meeting the fair Lily-flower.' Sirius teased.

'I would have preferred more time to _actually _get ready before everyone got here.'

'Well they're not here yet,' Sirius shrugged.

'I bet you were up early,' James accused.

'I don't need my beauty sleep James, you do.'

'I bet you were awake with plenty of time to get ready before Remus gets here.' James said pointedly.

'_I _don't need to spruce myself up Jamsie; I already captured my Remy's heart.' Sirius teased him.

'Well I would have thought as my _best friend _you would have been kind enough to wake me up with enough time to sort my hair at least.'

'James, there is _no _way you will ever be able to sort that horrid mess that you call hair.' He smirked in amusement.

'Git,'

'Ponce,'

'I am _not _a ponce Sirius!'

'Sure thing Jamsie-pie' he grinned as Mr and Mrs Potter made their way into the kitchen.

'So when are your friends arriving?'

'In about half an hour,' James groaned looking at his watch.

'James mate...I think your watch must have stopped working.' Sirius said innocently, indicating the clock on the kitchen wall and James let out a shriek of panic which sent Sirius into one of his loudest laughing fits yet. The noise James had made was so funny he could feel pain shooting through his stomach from laughing so hard.

'Sirius Black I am going to _murder _you!'

'It's not my fault your watch isn't working.'

'It _is _working Sirius; it's the time that's wrong!' James said accusingly and Mr Potter looked up from his copy of the Daily Prophet to smirk slightly, clearly thinking the situation was quite humorous.

'Well don't blame me; it's _your _watch James.' Sirius smirked and James gave a loud indignant noise before a loud _pop _sounded and Remus Lupin was stood at the Kitchen door.

'Remy!' he shouted enthusiastically and bounced forward to pull his boyfriend into a tight hug.

'Hello Siri,' Remus chuckled at him and Sirius grinned wildly as he smelt that familiar Remus-y scent; inhaling deeply and feeling his spirits rise tremendously.

'Honestly, you'd think that you hadn't seen Remus in months.' Mrs Potter smiled at them and Sirius gave a small unsure laugh while Remus blushed slightly before they pulled apart and James Potter came into Remus' view.

'Are you planning on wearing you your bedclothes to the beach James?' the pale young man asked with a raised eyebrow and an amused gleam in his eyes.

'Your b-friend,' James spluttered, barely avoiding saying boyfriend. 'Thought it would be funny to change the time on my watch and now I'm not going to be ready before Lily gets here and I'm going to look stupid!' James complained, looking on the verge of tears.

'James, do you _realise _how pathetic you look right now?' Sirius found himself asking, James was seriously getting overly worked up about this.

'Easy for you to say Sirius, you don't understand how horrible this is. It's all so much easier for you.' James complained and Sirius felt slightly guilty, but he still disagreed, he and Remus' relationship had been far from easy. He had just been lucky that Remus had made the first move because Sirius seriously doubted that he would have had the guts to.

'Whatever James, go get dressed and I'll sort out your bloody breakfast.' Sirius sighed.

'Its fine, I'll sort out his food dear. Why don't you take your own breakfast and sit outside? There's no point in wasting the sunshine.' Mrs Potter smiled before adding. 'Remus would you like something to eat dear?'

'No thank you, Mrs Potter, I already had breakfast before I left home.' Remus replied politely and Sirius grinned, grabbing Remus' arm and tugging him towards the back door.

'Sirius, your cereal' Remus reminded him with a nod and Sirius rolled his eyes, now that Remus was here he wouldn't get away with not finishing it. He then proceeded to pick up his bowl and spoon pointedly.

They headed outside immediately afterwards and Sirius smiled, leading the way to one of the larger trees in James' garden. It was flowering, the purple leaves shining in the sunlight as they sat beneath it. Seeing Remus sitting before him, carefree and relaxed only made Sirius feel guilty, he had neglected to tell his boyfriend about death eaters visiting James' parents, knowing full well that Remus would only worry and plead with him to leave. He didn't want Remus to _know _that he had broke his promise, didn't want to risk them getting into any kind of argument.

Remus looked at him pointedly and Sirius gave a small huff before resuming eating his breakfast.

'You know, that was mean Sirius. You know how wound up James gets about impressing Lily.'

'He needs to stop trying so hard. I know she likes him, she's just in denial because she used to hate him.'

'I don't think _hate _is the right word Siri,'

'Don't deny it Remus, she loathed him. But that was cus she didn't know him well enough.' Sirius explained with a mouthful of cereal.

'Don't talk with your mouth full Sirius, and I still don't think she really _loathed _him. I think she just disliked his behaviour.'

'All done,' Sirius grinned, throwing the bowl and spoon to the side and it made a loud noise as the bowl shattered across the ground.

'Sirius!' Remus exclaimed disapprovingly.

'It's fine Remus, I wanted it out the way and I'll fix it before we go back inside.' Sirius replied flippantly. Remus fixed him with a look that quite clearly stated:_ that isn't the point_.

But Sirius just gave him an apologetic smile and pulled Remus towards him, Remus' lips meeting his own for the first time since the Hogwarts Express. Sirius sighed contentedly against Remus lips, feeling himself relax instantly into their kiss before Remus pulled back suddenly, face flushed and looking awkward.

'We shouldn't...I mean, what if James' parents see.' Remus mumbled looking embarrassed.

'I'm pretty sure Mrs P already guessed anyway.' He shrugged. 'And I doubt James' dad notices much other than the Daily Prophet this early on in the day.'

'Still...it's not a good idea.' Remus mumbled, looking apologetic and Sirius gave another sigh, although this time in frustration.

'I suppose so,' he muttered feeling irritated. It was unfair that he couldn't just openly kiss Remus wherever he wanted, if James and Lily were together they wouldn't need to think twice about holding hands or being affectionate in public. They could outright snog each other in the Gryffindor Common Room and no one would even bat an eyelid. Sirius had to admit, the stupidity of the world around them was incredibly annoying.

'What are you thinking?' Remus asked, breaking him out of his thoughts and Sirius saw confusion in Remus' eyes. He really did love those eyes...

'Nothing much...just how stupid the world is,' He replied half-heartedly and Remus gave him a look of concern before proceeding to pull Sirius into a hug and Sirius curled his head into the other boys chest, enjoying the feel of Remus' arms around him.

'So much for not getting people suspicious Remy,' he mumbled jokingly.

'I'm allowed to hug you without people thinking we're together.' Remus chuckled.

'We shouldn't have to pretend we're not.' Sirius replied bitterly.

'Sirius...I'm willing to come out if you are. I just...you have to remember that once people know there's no going back. People will treat us differently, we'll be stared at, talked about...amongst other things...' Sirius knew exactly what Remus meant by _other things_.

'I wouldn't let anyone hurt you Remy,' Sirius said quietly.

'I know that Siri, but...it _will _make things difficult for us.'

'I know...' Sirius sighed. 'I'm just being stupid.'

'You're far from stupid Sirius. But you shouldn't go telling everyone because of a spur of the moment feeling. Like I said...once it's done-'

'-there's no going back, I know. It's not worth all the hassle just so I can hold your hand on the way to classes.' He admitted and Remus nodded sadly in agreement.

'I know it's a stupid situation Sirius but...it's for the best if we just leave things as they are.'

'I know...I just wish it didn't have to be so difficult.' Sirius replied quietly, looking into Remus' eyes as he spoke.

'Hey guys, I was told you were out...here...' Lily said from the now open doorway. She closed it quickly behind her and walked towards them awkwardly. 'Am I interrupting something?'

'No it's fine Petal, we're just talking...' Sirius said with a small smile. 'How's your summer going?'

'It's only been a week and a half.' She laughed.

'Where's your stuff?'

'In the kitchen, Mrs Potter said to just leave my things there until everyone was ready to go. What's with the broken bowl?' she asked, raising an eyebrow in a _very _Remus-like fashion and making Sirius jump slightly in surprise.

'Sirius finished his breakfast and decided to throw the bowl away.' Remus chuckled.

'_Reparo,_' Lily muttered quickly, flourishing her wand. 'Now take it inside.' She told Sirius.

'Yes _sir_.' He said with a mock salute and she rolled her eyes at his reference to her being a man.

'How mature,' she teased. 'I fail to understand why Remus likes you so much,' Sirius gasped mockingly and moved towards the door shouting out quickly;

'Well I fail to understand what you find so attractive about a messy haired git like James,' he then bolted in the door so she couldn't reply and grinned as he could see her bright red face from the Kitchen window.

'Hey, I heard the _pop_...who's here?' James asked quickly as he walked through and Sirius quickly adjusted his expression to show that James was being incredibly stupid.

'Well, out of Lily and Pete who can apparate?' Sirius said slowly to let James see the stupidity of his own question.

'Oh...yeah,' James laughed in remembrance.

James had then agreed to apparate to Pete's house to speed things up and had soon returned with their chubby friend before the group said their rushed goodbyes to the Potters and left for the beach.

'You know, I've never been to the beach before.' Sirius pondered out loud as they walked across the grass just short of the beach.

'Never?' Pete asked looking thoroughly disbelieving.

'I've only been twice,' Remus said thoughtfully. 'Although I don't remember the first time very well...I was really small...' he seemed to have wandered off into his own thoughts looking slightly worried.

'What up Remy?' Sirius asked as they reached the sand, fighting his instinct to run straight for the water as James and Lily began pulling out the blankets they had brought along.

'Hmm?'

'What's wrong?'

'Nothing it's just...well last time I was at the beach it wasn't exactly a fun occasion. We had to leave early cus my mum got really upset with people staring at me.' He said quietly.

'Well, that's their problem not yours.' Sirius shrugged. 'You gonna come swim with me?'

'Maybe later,' Remus replied; his eyes wandering slightly as he looked around the beach. It wasn't a very well known beach so there weren't too many other people on it but he still looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Suddenly it hit him; Remus didn't want to go swimming because he thought people on the beach would stare because of his scars and Sirius understood why he was so worried; Remus had a _lot _of scars on his chest, back and legs and he was clearly petrified of letting people see them. In all honesty Sirius doubted Remus would have stripped down to his swimming trunks without hesitation even if it had only been their group that was present. He lowered his voice instantly;

'Don't worry about it Remy, the others aren't going to be bothered, I mean, they all know you have scars and you're never going to see the rest of these people again.

'That's not the point Siri,' he mumbled awkwardly in return.

'Look, anyone who stares will have me to answer to,' Sirius said firmly. 'Well...if I notice them...which might be difficult if I'm with a half naked Remus,' Sirius joked lightly, but he made sure to look Remus in the eye to make sure that Remus knew he meant it.

'What did I do to deserve you Siri,' Remus smiled softly, pushing Sirius' hair back and out of his face.

'Something pretty bad I suppose,' Sirius joked and Remus rolled his eyes at him. 'Come on Remy...for me? Once we're in the water no one will be able to see anyway,' Sirius told him, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.

'O-okay,' Remus replied nervously and Sirius shot him an encouraging smile.

'Would you like me to undress you?' Sirius joked suggestively.

'I think I can manage it myself Siri,' he laughed in amusement and Sirius grinned wildly in return before proceeding to strip down himself.

Once he was done and standing in nothing but his swimming trunks he looked around at the others to see that they were all ready to go as well. Well nearly, Remus still had his t-shirt on and didn't look like he was taking it off anytime soon...not when they were so near other people.

'Why don't we move along the beach?' Sirius suggested to the others. 'It's too crowded here anyway; we'll probably just piss them off with our loud antics.' He didn't actually think that at all but it meant they could move along so that Remus' scars wouldn't be visible to the other people on the beach.

'If you really want to...' James said, looking frustrated that they would take longer to get in the water and Sirius had to admit his best friend could be a little oblivious at times.

Once they were further along the beach Sirius had nodded his head towards the water pointedly and Lily took the hint, dragging James and Peter along with her to give Sirius and Remus a moment to talk. Remus seemed a little less nervous now that they were further away from the random people scattered across the beach and began shakily removing his t-shirt, looking uncomfortable and embarrassed as his eyes moved towards the people who were closest to them. It took every ounce of willpower Sirius had to _not _tackle Remus to the ground when Remus' top was removed. He could see that familiar scar on the pale young man's hip, knowing it curved down across his thigh, trailing to the inside of his thigh and Sirius was now picturing a _highly _unclothed Remus in his head.

'You know, you're lucky we're on a populated beach otherwise I might have struggled to control myself Remy,' Sirius whispered to him as he moved closer to take the t-shirt from Remus' arms and discarded it along with the rest of the group's clothes. Remus gave a weak smile in reply and Sirius decided he couldn't care less what the other people on the beach thought of him and wrapped his arms around Remus, pulling him close to his chest and rubbing circles on his back comfortingly. The mental image seemed to have melted away as soon as he saw Remus' worry and he was now focused solely on making Remus feel better.

'Thank you Siri, I know you're trying to make things easier for me...it's just...just not that simple.'

'I know,' he whispered back lightly. 'But you have nothing to be ashamed of Remy, it's not your fault and it certainly has fuck all to do with anyone else on this beach. I think you're beautiful...and, in all honesty, I don't even notice your scars anymore' and he meant every word he was saying. The only time Remus' scars really stood out to him was when he had a rough transformation and got a new scar or when they were intimate and really close up.

But they didn't bother Sirius in the slightest, sure, he hated that Remus had endured such pain but the actual scars weren't off putting to him in any way.

'I love you, Siri,' Remus sighed into Sirius' long hair.

'I love you too, Remy.' He replied with a smile and pulled back, holding a hand out to the pale young man.

'I thought we agreed not to-'

'-nobody here knows us anyway Remy, and I certainly don't give a fuck what they think about us.' Remus smiled slightly and Sirius was glad when he took his hand, allowing himself to be led down to the water where the rest of their group was currently splashing about like children.

The others' eyes seemed drawn to Remus instantly as they neared and Sirius wanted to smack them all over the heads for their stupidity. After a few moments they all began averting their eyes awkwardly and he could feel Remus' grip on his hand tighten apprehensively as they neared them.

'They're just surprised Remy, they've never seen your scars before...not those ones. But it doesn't matter, its curiosity...nothing else.' He said firmly and Remus nodded but Sirius knew that it had been automatic and that Remus wasn't any comfier than he had been before Sirius had started his sentence.

'C'mon Remy, its fine,' Sirius whispered.

'No it's not,' Remus replied stopping short of the group now and looking anxious. 'They're freaked out by my scars, I can see it in their faces Siri, and they won't even look at me.'

'They're not looking cus they don't want to make you awkward.' Sirius replied. 'Trust me Remus, give it a few minutes and everything will be fine, everyone will be the same daft sodding freaks that they always are.' Sirius joked before looking him straight in the eye and adding; 'I promise, Remy'

'O-okay,' Remus replied looking at so dependently that it was genuinely heart-breaking to see with his own eyes. He pulled Remus that little bit closer to him and placed a small kiss on one of the scars adorning his shoulder and Remus blushed slightly, making Sirius feel slightly happier from seeing a bit of colour in the scarred young man's pale cheeks.

'Hey, there are no doors to knock on here so you two can't get up to things.' James joked warmly, having noticed the exchange and the other two turned to look curiously at them, clearly wondering what they had missed.

'You can't blame me for wanting to kiss a half-naked Remy,' Sirius joked. 'And going to the beach _was _set up by you James so technically...anything I do right now is _your _fault.'

'Don't even try that one on me Sirius,' the messy haired young man laughed, splashing him wildly for his remark and Sirius let go of Remus' hand before tackling his best friend resulting in a loud _splash _and some stares from the other people vacating the beach.

'Son of a bitch!' James spluttered as he managed to knock Sirius off and they both erupted into a fit of laughter.

'Remy, kill him for me.' Sirius pouted and the group all laughed, settling back into their playful behaviour and beginning a rather large and playful fight in the water. Pete gave a rather loud squeak as he was pushed under the water by James and Lily dove for James to carry out revenge for the chubby young man.

'See told you it'd all be fine.' Sirius grinned, wrapping an arm around Remus and pulling him down into the water resulting in the already wet young men being soaked once more.

'It's not fine if you drown me,' Remus teased him.

'I wouldn't let you drown Remy!' Sirius gasped in mock outrage.

'Oh really?' Remus smiled.

'Yes really, I'm Super-Sirius...Super-Sirius can't let people drown on his watch.' Sirius smirked widely.

'And what would Super-Sirius do if he thought I was drowning?' Remus smiled lightly.

'Are you saying that you _are_ drowning?' Sirius asked pointedly.

'Maybe,' Remus grinned in anticipation.

'Well then, I'm afraid Super-Sirius' only option is to give you mouth-to-mouth.' Sirius grinned in return before pressing his lips passionately to Remus' own, eliciting a small moan from his boyfriend.

**Hehe, there you go Chili, told you I'd find somewhere to fit in Super-Sirius :) Hopefully that makes up for me being unable to reply to your messages for a few days... :(**

**I'm really sorry for not replying to chapter 64 straight away, I have an exam this morning and am going away for two days so I won't be able to reply until Sunday. But trust me, I will reply to reviews for that chapter and this by Sunday night!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo **

**GiggleNo9**

**Kombinant**

**Siredna**

**monkeybunspotter**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	66. Chapter 66 The Late Present

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Good morning Sirius!' a familiar voice said brightly, but that couldn't be right...Remus wasn't at the Potters' house. He opened his eyes briefly and looked up to find his boyfriend hovering at the side of his bed looking amused and...excited?

'Remy! What are you doing here?' Sirius grinned excitedly as he realised that Remus really _was _there. Without waiting for an explanation he grabbed hold of the pale young man in front of him and pulled him down atop of him on the bed, kissing him happily. Sirius was even happier when Remus accepted the kiss without complaint and returned it with just as much vigour.

'Um...yeah, why are you here?' Sirius asked, breathing heavily as they parted. 'Not that I'm complaining, I mean, that's a pretty damn good way to wake up in the morning.'

'I'm here because today is a _very _special day in the life of one Sirius Black.' His boyfriend smiled secretively.

'Why? Are you here to give me some summertime loving?' Sirius winked suggestively.

'No, well...maybe later if we can get away,' Remus blushed.

'Oh I'll find a way to get us away Remy, no worries about that.' Sirius grinned happily.

'Daft dog,' Remus chuckled, ruffling his hair to prove his point.

'So, what's so special about today?' Sirius asked in amusement and Remus reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment; handing it to Sirius who opened it quickly and recognised the familiar large writing; "I James Potter owe you Sirius Black a kick-ass birthday present. This token must be redeemed in the summer in order to receive your present so keep it safe."

'Today?' he asked excitedly and Remus smiled in amusement; nodding his head to confirm Sirius' suspicions.

'I love you!' Sirius shouted happily, kissing Remus firmly before jumping out of bed and rushing down the stairs in nothing but his boxers.

'James! James! James!' Sirius shouted excitedly as he rushed down the stairs and bolted straight into the Kitchen where Mr and Mrs Potter, James, Peter and Lily were all sat at the table.

'Sirius!' Lily gasped in horror at seeing him with nothing but his boxers on.

'Like what you see, Petal?' Sirius winked suggestively, not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed by the redhead's presence and Mrs Potter shook her head at him in amusement.

'I assume you didn't let Remus get to the point of explaining that Lily was here?' she asked with a smile.

'No he didn't.' Came the voice of Remus Lupin who arrived at the Kitchen doorway a few seconds behind him. 'Although I doubt he would have put on clothes anyway,' his tone held a great deal of amusement and Sirius grinned happily at his boyfriend before turning to his best friend.

'Well James, I'm afraid Lily won't ever want you now. Not now that she's seen the sexiness of Sirius Black.' He teased his messy haired friend, spreading his arms out wide and spinning around dramatically. Both James and Lily flushed instantly while the others all looked torn between disapproval and amusement.

'I'm sure Lily will survive without you Siri,' Remus chuckled and James glared unhappily at his best friend.

'Aww Jamsie, what's wrong?' Sirius asked, feigning innocence.

'You better be nice Siri,' Remus warned him.

'Why?' Sirius said in a sing-song voice.

'Otherwise you won't be getting your present you cheeky git.' James laughed.

'Okay okay, I'm sorry,' Sirius smiled apologetically.

'I don't believe you for two minutes,' James smirked.

'Ah, you know me too well Jamsie,'

'That I do Siri, that I do. Now why don't you have some breakfast first and-'

'Remy! Tell James to stop teasing me' he huffed loudly and the group all laughed.

'Okay, come on then.' James gave in and they all began heading for the front door.

'You know, I'm as much in the dark as you are about this.' Lily muttered to Sirius as the exited the door but he didn't reply because he had just set eyes on his present.

'Merlin...' Sirius whispered in shock, it was by far the most amazing motorbike he had ever seen. 'Merlin,' he repeated in awe.

'Apparently, you're supposed to have a licence to drive these things...but we'll find something to transfigure to make it look like you have one.'

'I don't think it would do him any harm to actually get some lessons' Remus said quietly and Sirius looked up at Remus and then to the others feeling an incredibly emotion making its way through his chest.

'I love you guys SO MUCH!' he told them, his voice getting steadily louder with each and every word and rushing forward to climb onto the red beauty, kicking his left leg over to get seated and getting used to the motorcycle's ergonomics.

'You know, I think I agree with Remus.' Lily said worriedly. 'he really should get lessons first...motorcycle accidents happen quite a lot, even to people who've been riding them for years. They're _really_ dangerous.' Sirius ignored her words and began playing about with all the different parts.

'Oh Merlin, James this has to be one of your most foolish ideas yet.' She said worriedly but James ignored her, completely focused on his best friend's happiness.

'I don't know much about motorcycles...but apparently it's quite good...a Bonneville, or something.' James explained happen.

'It's Triumph Bonneville T120,' Sirius told him excitedly, letting his hands slide over the motorcycle in awe. He had read about it in one of the many motorcycle magazines that Pete tended to send him once his dad was finished with them. 'It's-it's amazing James...I wasn't expecting something like this...it must have cost you a fortune!'

'Worth every galleon in the world to see you so happy, mate.' James grinned.

'And apparently worth your best friend's life as well,' Lily huffed disapprovingly.

'You wanna come for a ride with me James?' Sirius asked pointedly.

'Once you've learnt to ride it.' James laughed in amusement and Sirius grinned in return. 'First things first Siri, you need to come have breakfast.' He teased.

'Aww, come on James! You can't take me away from it so soon...'

'I think you may have put an end to Sirius and Remus' relationship James, Sirius won't leave that motorcycle's side from now on.' Pete muttered to the bespectacled young man and Sirius smirked, having overheard the chubby young man's mutter.

'Sirius, you can play with your toy later,' Remus said in an exasperated tone, and Sirius could see a small smile tugging at the pale young man's lips.

'You know you want to ride it Remy,' Sirius grinned, 'you just wait 'til I can ride it properly and we can go on a big adventure.'

'I think I'll have to pass on that one, Lily may prove to be right...it looks like a death-trap.'

'If you really thought it was gonna kill me then you wouldn't have agreed to buy it.' Sirius countered smugly.

'Just be carefully Siri,' Remus sighed in defeat.

'Remy, it's not going to kill you if you come closer.' Sirius grinned and Remus gave him a look that quite clearly showed he disagreed with his boyfriend.

'You know Sirius; maybe we _should_ get you some lessons first.' Mrs Potter suggested, looking slightly worried as he grabbed hold of the grips and grinned up at them all.

Sirius continued to grin with exitement, shifting his weight slightly and then pulled the clutch and then the grip in his right hand, speeding off down the road. He could hear James cheering loudly and felt his excitement rise even further. He got to the end of the road quickly-this wasn't so hard after all, he mused-and then turned to go back to the Potters' house. He could see the house getting closer as he neared it and pulled the grip towards him quickly to speed up. But he realised his mistake instantly; he had pulled the grip far too fast and the motorbike moved suddenly, resulting hi him doing an accidental wheelie and Sirius was flung backwards; flipping over painfully and ending up sprawled across the ground, his leg breaking on contact and gasping with pain while feeling blood began trailing down from his head.

He could hear the screams and shouts of "Sirius!" from the group as they all began running towards him. Remus reached him first, even before James, apparently not caring if his sudden speedy ability drew Mr and Mrs Potter's attention.

'Sirius!' he gasped in horror upon reaching him.

'Oh Merlin!' James panicked as he reached them, looking absolutely terrified. 'What have I done? I can't believe I actually bought you that thing!'

'I'm fine,' he mumbled, feeling his eyes close tiredly. 'I-I just...'

'No you're not, your certainly not.' James panicked.

'Sirius don't you _dare _close your eyes.' Remus said firmly, shaking him roughly and causing Sirius to shout out in pain. Remus stopped instantly looking horrified by what he had done.

'What's hurting most?' Remus rushed.

'My leg...I think it's broken.' Sirius mumbled, trying to sit up and feeling Remus' arms support him carefully but not helping him to actually move into a sitting position. Sirius groaned in pain but he was beginning to feel closer to letting his eyes close, feeling perfectly safe to do so in Remus' arms. He shifted slightly and felt the pain rush through him again, wincing in pain as he did so.

'Sit still for two _fucking _minutes Sirius!' James shouted unexpectedly and Sirius felt himself tense instantly.

'Just wait a minute Siri,' Remus whispered soothingly.

It was then that the rest of the group reached his side and Sirius groaned at the loud babble that accompanied it.

'Shush, you're being too noisy. It's hurting his head.' Lily told them all.

'No Lily I'll think you'll find that it's the fucking hole in it that's hurting his head.' James snapped in frustration.

'Remy...' he found himself mumbling weakly, feeling the dizziness in his head worsening by the second.

'I'm here Siri,' Remus soothed, pushing his hair out of his face and looking down at him, his eyes filled with concern. Even now Sirius felt truly fascinated with those eyes...Merlin how he loved those eyes.

'Remy...'

'What is it Sirius? Siri?' Remus was now looking incredibly worried and Sirius could feel his eyes closing unwillingly.

'Sirius!' he heard his boyfriend shout out in a panic before he completely gave into the darkness...

When he finally came around he found himself back in his bedroom but atop the covers.

'Remy...' he mumbled unsurely feeling quite confused. He felt a mess and shifted slightly. That was when he realised that his leg was no longer broken and he realised that he must have been healed.

'James took him outside in the garden to get some fresh air.' Pete said awkwardly from his side and he turned his head to look at the chubby young man before feeling a lightheaded feeling.

'I-I don't...I mean I-I can't...' he couldn't seem to find the words he was looking for and he felt incredibly confused and frustrated. He then felt his eyes begin to close; the darkness consuming his mind again and the last thing he heard was Peter's worried shouts of;

'Mrs Potter!'

The next thing Sirius remembered was waking up for the second time and seeing Remus sitting by his side and with James and Mrs Potter currently sitting on chairs in deep thought, he assumed they must have levitated the chairs up to his room temporarily.

'Remy...' he mumbled and the others quickly noticed his conscious state, gathering around his bed quickly.

'We're all here mate...how you feeling?' James asked quietly.

'W-What...'

'You were unconscious mate; looks like you knocked your head harder than we thought. Mum healed you up; we've got some potions for you to take as well...to clear your head up a bit.'

'James, give him a minute to come around.' Mrs Potter told him. 'You're just going to confuse him at this rate.'

'Ugh, I don't want any _bloody _potions.' Sirius complained, allowing his eyes to close temporarily in an attempt to rid himself of the insane pounding in his head. He registered a squeeze on his hand and realised that Remus was holding it tightly, to the point where it was becoming quite painful. Sirius squeezed back to reassure him but Remus didn't say anything and Sirius opened his eyes to look at the young man by his side.

'You gave Remus a bit of a scare you know,' James told him softly. 'Gave all of us a fright actually...when we bought the Potions the woman was asking if you'd felt sick or dizzy, and we couldn't even answer cus we didn't have a clue...it was horrible.'

'I felt a bit dizzy, and I felt lightheaded just before I lost consciousness. But I'd hit my head pretty hard so I didn't think it was a big deal.'

'Well, you need to take your potions.'

'I'm not taking any bloody potions...I'm fine.'

'Remus, will you please tell him to stop being an idiot!'

'James bugger off, you're not my bloody mother.' Sirius snapped in frustration before realising that the comment didn't really apply if one didn't have a nice mother who actually tended to you. Sirius assumed that his expression must have changed when he thought about his mother because the group had entered an uncomfortable silence.

'Just take the potion Sirius,' Remus whispered quietly and Sirius looked at him closely, seeing how incredibly worried Remus looked.

'Fine but you all better be bloody well happy.' He mumbled to the group and Mrs Potter stood and went to get the potions with Remus quickly following without another word, leaving Sirius feeling confused and slightly hurt.

'Where's everyone else?' Sirius mumbled, trying to ignore his feelings.

'You've been out quite a while, mate. Dad had to go to work and Pete and Lily went home. Speaking of which, I should probably Floo them to let them know that you're awake now...I thought Lily wasn't going to leave for a bit; looks like she's become quite fond of you, Sirius.' James smiled.

Sirius made a small noise in return and looked towards the door sadly.

'Is he mad at me?' Sirius asked feeling confused.

'No, he's probably mad at me for suggesting getting you a motorbike. Probably a little mad at himself too, for agreeing.'

'But-'

'He was terrified Sirius,' James said quietly. 'I got him to open up a little when we were left alone and trust me Siri; you gave him more than just a _little _fright.'

Without another word Sirius made to get up but was pushed back down by James who was looking at him disbelievingly.

'Don't be so bloody stupid Siri, stay right where you are you daft git.' It was then that Mrs Potter and Remus came back into the room and Sirius did his best to catch his boyfriend's eye but in failing so decided he would just have to be straightforward.

Remus reached his side once more and began pouring Sirius' potions for him but Sirius reached a hand out and grabbed Remus' wrist.

'Leave the potion,' Sirius said quietly and Remus put it down instantly, his eyes now looking straight into Sirius' and Sirius could see that Remus was trying desperately not to succumb to tears. 'Oh Remy,' Sirius whispered quietly feeling his chest tighten with sympathy.

He gave Remus a small tug towards the bed and Remus didn't resist in the slightest, allowing himself to be pulled to Sirius' side and Sirius wrapped his arms instantly around his boyfriend pulling him to his chest. He had fully expected the tears that had followed, there was no loud sobs or cries, just tears running down Remus' ghostly pale cheeks.

'I'm sorry for being stupid on the motorcycle, and for not saying anything to you...I didn't think how you must have felt.'

'I'm being ridiculous, I should just be glad that you're okay...I just...I was _so _worried about you Sirius. I can't explain how horrible it was to see you lose consciousness right before my eyes. To feel you go limp in my arms...' Sirius cut him off, tilting his head upwards and pressing their lips together gently without caring in the slightest that Mrs Potter was in the room before pulling away slowly and letting his own head rest against Remus' as they looked each other straight in the eyes. Mrs Potter gave an unsubtle cough and they turned to face her. Sirius felt himself smile awkwardly at her and he could see Remus' face had gone a very unflattering colour of red.

'Um...the thing is-' Sirius began awkwardly.

'-You don't need to explain Siri,' Remus cut over him. 'She already knows...'

'Yeah, Remus was pretty damn obvious when you got hurt. So everything's kinda out in the open now. You missed the awkward conversation and everything.' James was smirking, looking incredibly amused.

'So...' he began, looking up at Mrs Potter unsurely.

'I don't mind dear, honestly.' She smiled warmly at him and Sirius jumped out of bed, ignoring the other two boys' protests, and threw his arms around Mrs Potter, for once he didn't seem to mind the physical contact with her at all.

'Really?' Sirius whispered happily, Mrs Potter was the closest thing he had to a _proper _mother and he felt incredibly relieved to know that she had accepted his sexuality.

'Of course not dear, love has no limitations and anyone who says otherwise isn't worth associating with,' she smiled fondly, fingering his hair as she spoke.

'Thank you,' Sirius whispered quietly, feeling incredibly relieved. 'You'd kind of guessed anyway hadn't you? Last summer...'

'It's not hard to see,' Mrs Potter admitted with a smile. 'Real love is easy to detect,' upon seeing Remus' worried look, however, she added; 'I'm not saying it's obvious to everyone that the two of you are together. I'm just saying that I've known you boys a long time and I could see the changes between the two of you over the years.' The two young men nodded, beginning to just feel plain awkward now and noticing this, Mrs Potter stood and headed for the door.

'I'll go get lunch started' she told them warmly, 'I'll call you down when it's ready.' She then turned to James and added; 'Your father will be here for lunch, he's getting away early to come see how Sirius is.'

'How come he's getting away with that? I thought they were all ultra busy at the Ministry right now'

'They are, but they can't stop him leaving early if it's a family emergency,' she smiled and Sirius felt his heart soar that little bit higher at her words...he had a family.

'I'll come help you, give those two some time alone,' James said softly and grinned at the two before following his mother out of the door and down to the Kitchen.

'I'm sorry you know; I'll be more careful next time.' Sirius told his boyfriend firmly.

'Next time?' Remus asked weakly in disbelief.

'I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear-'

'-after having you go limp in my arms? No it's not.' Remus said unhappily.

'It's my own fault, I got cocky and it was stupid. I'll even take the damn lessons if you want me to.' Sirius said firmly.

'And wear the helmet?'

'But I'll end up with helmet hair, Remy!'

'Well, we'll find you a spell that does the same thing then.' Remus replied.

'Deal,' Sirius grinned.

'Be careful Siri, I swear if you give me any more scares like that then you're going to be the death of me.' The scarred young man chuckled weakly.

'I won't, promise.'

'Well, I guess you can keep it then,' Remus sighed, admitting defeat.

'Yeah? Well once I can ride it properly I fully expect you to come for a ride with me.' He smiled and Remus gave a small chuckle, leaning back into Sirius' arms. Sirius couldn't help but smile affectionately at the adorable young man that was Remus Lupin. He genuinely couldn't understand how he could have possibly went so long without Remus when they hadn't been talking, couldn't even begin to imagine his life without his pale friend. He loved his Remy more than anything else in the world...Merlin; he was turning into a right soppy git.

**Sorry for not replying to Chapter 64's reviews yet...I have replied to Chapter 65's though :) I'll get the other chapter replied to later on today, I'm just kinda knackered from my mini-trip away :P I went to see Les Miserables in Edinburgh as an early birthday treat and it was genuinly amazing - long, but amazing...and it was the 25th anniversary so i got a les miz top but it was all silvery and shiny because it's the 25th anniversary...anyway you probably don't really care so I'll stop talking about it haha.**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**spot'scrazygril**

**Kombinant**

**monkeybunspotter**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**GiggleNo9**

**Siredna**

**SweetoothMegs**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	67. Chapter 67 Badges, Sisters and Popcorn

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Boys!' Mrs Potter called out, from her place where she was standing at the door leading into the back garden.

'What is it mum?' James called back from his place in the tree. The two young men had became rather attached to lazing on the tree's wide branches to escape the heat, this summer had turned out to be warmer than usual and the fun side of it had disappeared quickly leaving them feeling constantly hot and irritated.

'Hogwarts letters are here.' She called to them and Sirius groaned.

'Do we have to go open them? It's just gonna say _hey, here's your list of crap that you need, it's the same as every other year but with a few new books, term starts on the first of September, from Minerva_.'

'I'm worried for you Siri, I don't think anyone else gets their letters signed _Minerva_,' James teased him and Sirius laughed.

'Yeah well, me and Minerva are on a first name basis,' Sirius said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows and James laughed so hard that he actually fell out of the tree with a _thud_.

'Jamsie I feel rather worried by your ability to accidentally fall such great heights. Seriously though, why did they let you on the Quidditch team?'

'Shut up Siri,' James cut over him with a grin, rubbing his head slightly. 'C'mon, the sooner we open them the sooner we can come back out.'

'Why don't we do something with everyone else tonight?' Sirius asked as they began walking up to the house.

'Don't see why not, it's Lily's turn to choose what we do though, so we should beware muggle outings.' James joked.

They entered the Kitchen, flopping down into the kitchen chairs and began opening the letters in a bored manner. He always thought these letters were sort of pointless, they should just send a quick list of things they needed and be done with it.

'Holy shit!' James shouted, looking incredibly freaked out.

'James!' his mother reprimanded as she made a fresh pot of tea.

'Siri, kill me.' James whimpered and Sirius looked up from his book list, happy for the distraction, only to be met with a horrified expression on James' face.

'Why? They decided they don't want you back for the seventh year?' Sirius teased and James held his hand out, still closed. Sirius reached his hand out under it and James opened his hand allowing a small object to land in Sirius' outstretched palm.

'Holy Merlin in a tutu,' Sirius exclaimed and James gave a small, shaky laugh at his words. Sirius was staring down at the badge in his hand feeling like he was being tricked in some way.

'I swear if this is some weird kind of joke James I'll bloody kill you,' but James didn't reply, he looked genuinely horrified.

'What's wrong boys?' Mrs Potter asked, sitting down at the table now and pouring the tea into cups.

'James Potter is going to spend the next year of his life being a goody two shoe with no social life,' Sirius barked out before bursting into a fit of giggles.

Who in their right mind would make _James _Head Boy? It was ludicrous; he was one of the worst behaved students Hogwarts had ever seen. Sure, he'd been improving in the last year, but sure surely Dumbledore hadn't actually forgotten his past behaviour?

'What does he mean?' the elderly woman asked looking highly confused. 'James?'

'Your darling baby boy has the tremendous honour of being made Head Boy.' Sirius grinned in amusement.

'I-I can't be H-Head boy,' James spluttered looking nearly hysterical. 'I can turn it down right?'

'No you certainly can't!' Mrs Potter said firmly. 'Don't be silly, being Head Boy is such a great honour.'

'Oh Merlin...what about Remus though?' James said looking incredibly guilty. 'He's been Prefect for two years and I stole Head Boy from him.'

'He never wanted to be Head Boy James,' Sirius lied rolling his eyes. 'He wouldn't want to abuse that kind of position which he would inevitably do to try and get me out of trouble.' But James looked unconvinced and Sirius shot him a look that said he'd give him a proper answer once they were alone.

'Oh dear, I never thought I'd get to see my beautiful baby become Head Boy, you were always such a troublesome boy.'

'I-I can't be Head Boy, isn't there some sort of rule against people with as many detentions as I've had getting this kind of position?'

'I'm afraid not Jamsie-pie, wait til we tell the others! I can't wait to see how hysterical they'll be. You better hope Lily made Head Girl or she'll hex your balls off mate.'

'Sirius!' Mrs Potter said disapprovingly making a small _tut _noise and Sirius gave her his best apologetic smile.

'Seriously though mate, she'd kill you.' He grinned and James' eyes had lit up excitedly.

'But she's bound to be Head Girl, right? No one else in our year would deserve it more than her, she's good at everything.'

'I suppose she probably is, wow James now you can stalk her and she can't even tell you off for it.' Sirius gasped, feigning excitement for him.

'Git,' James muttered.

'Well Jamsie, I say it's about time we set up tonight's play date with the others.' Sirius grinned, still feeling quite shocked that James had been given such a respectable position in the school.

'Well done dear, I'm _so _proud of you.' Mrs Potter said firmly, kissing him smack on the lips and causing James to pull away in embarrassment. 'I'm away to owl your father, he'll be so surprised.'

'I think dumbfounded would be a better choice of word.' Sirius laughed once Mrs Potter left the room.

'Do you think Remus is going to be put out that he didn't get Head Boy?' James asked worriedly and Sirius shook his head.

'He knows he's not getting it James, he'd never have expected to. The ministry would have a fit if Dumbledore made a Werewolf Head Boy, James. You should have guessed that much yourself.'

'That's pathetic.' James said angrily. 'Remus deserves this far more than I do.'

'Maybe Dumbledore gave _you _Head Boy for a reason James, maybe he wanted to make sure you stayed on your _I'm a good boy now_ track. He probably figured that the school would have a lot less hassle if you were in charge of making sure we obeyed the school rules.'

'Probably...' James admitted looking worried. 'Lily's bound to have got Head Girl though, right? Could you imagine how upset she'd be if _I _got to be a Head and she didn't? She deserves it a _lot _more than I do.'

'I'm sure she'll have got it, mate.' Sirius smiled warmly. 'After all, she is the perfect Lily Evans.' He joked and James smiled weakly.

'Please don't go out your way to make my job as Head Boy difficult.' James pleaded weakly and Sirius gave a small chuckle.

'Don't worry about it, James. Remus would kill me if I did...plus it means I get plenty of me and Remy time if you and Lily are occupied.' Sirius grinned.

'You're forgetting about Pete, mate.' James laughed and Sirius felt instantly guilty for forgetting their friend.

'_Woops_,' he mumbled awkwardly and James laughed before nodding towards the fireplace.

They had quickly set up arrangements to meet with the others at Lily's house and go out to see a movie together. Lily had explained it briefly to them as being like pictures with sound and Sirius didn't really understand what the fascination was with such a thing...muggles were strange people.

Lily Evans' house was a particularly cheerful looking place. Her sitting room wasn't decorated with bright colours or anything like that; it was decorated in pale shades and tranquil colours. It was actually a very relaxing place to sit in; with candles spread around the room giving it a warm glow.

Sirius and James had arrived late, muttering their apologies and smiling sheepishly.

'Peter isn't able to come,' Lily informed them when they had arrived.

'He's at his grandmother's house for the week, eh?' James mentioned and Sirius wondered how James remembered all these things. The summer had been such a blur that he couldn't remember who was doing what and when.

'So it's just us four then?' Sirius asked feeling incredibly happy. It sounded cruel, but he quite liked that Peter wouldn't be with them tonight. It meant that James could focus on Lily and Sirius wouldn't have to make pointless conversation when he really wanted to just spend some time with his Remy without sharing him with the chubby young man.

'Hello boys,' Mr Evans said as he entered the room. 'I take it this is everybody then?' he asked his daughter.

'Yes dad, this is James, Remus and Sirius.' She told him, nodding to each of them in turn. They then proceeded with all the usual greetings and Mr Evans looked at them all warily, apparently not sure whether he was okay with his daughter spending the night with the group of boys. His eyes lingered on Sirius slightly longer, looking less than pleased that his daughter would be going out with him. Sirius supposed he probably wasn't too keen on Sirius' long hair and slightly bad-boy image. Ah the irony, he thought to himself in amusement. He was worried about Sirius being around his daughter when in fact he should have been far more worried about James, especially considering the other two boys were dating each other.

'Would you like to stay for dinner before you go out?' he asked politely and they all accepted graciously, much to the apparent relief of Lily Evans. 'Lily's mother is out at her sister's house for the night but I'm making dinner for the three of us anyway.'

Sirius wondered briefly who the third person was but once they sat down for their meal he decidedly wished he hadn't found out. The third person was Petunia, Lily's sister. She was older than Lily although Sirius doubted it was by much; a year or two at best. She was far different in looks from her sister; Lily was redheaded, pretty and curvy. Petunia on the other hand, was blonde, scarily thin and had very strange looking teeth. He hair and clothes were all sitting _just so _and it was clear that Petunia was a bit of a perfectionist.

Petunia seemed particularly unhappy to have guests, spending most of her time eating quietly and watching them all suspiciously as if she thought they were going to do something horrible is she took her eyes of them.

'So, Petunia...have you been enjoying your summer?' James asked politely.

'I'm not on vacation like _some.' _She replied pointedly, sounding extremely self-important. '_I _actually have a job.'

'Oh well, I suppose that's useful, having your own money and whatnot.' He smiled, clearly trying to gain her liking but Sirius could see that she had no intentions of getting on with any of them. He could also see she was a rather nosy individual, however, as her eyes kept drawing to the window whenever there were any noises outside the house. This was extremely off-putting when Sirius was trying to eat and he felt himself getting incredibly frustrated with her.

She also had a distinct interest in Remus, her eyes trailing towards him curiously every few minutes as if trying to build herself up to something.

'Anything wrong Petunia?' her father asked awkwardly.

'No no, just...' she trailed off, her eyes focusing on Remus once more and Sirius felt instantly uncomfortable. 'I don't mean to sound nosy but...how did you get all those scars?'

Sirius dropped his cutlery instantly, the sound resounding loudly throughout now awkwardly quiet room. His eyes instantly began bearing into the nosy young women with an incredible dislike and she seemed to have noticed because she was now avoiding looking anywhere near him. _Don't mean to be nosy, what bullshit, _he thought bitterly.

'I had an incident when I was little, spell gone wrong,' Remus lied calmly, and Sirius felt quite surprised how quickly Remus has come up with the lie. Nobody in the wizarding world would _ever _have fell for it, but, being a muggle, Petunia didn't know any better. She made a small noise to show she had heard him but didn't say anything and Sirius could feel himself getting increasingly angry at the irritating young women. The Dining Room's lights flickered momentarily and Lily shot him a look of warning which only annoyed him further, it wasn't as if he'd done it deliberately.

'So...what film are you going to see?' Lily's father asked to break the tension and Sirius felt one of Remus' hands rest on his thigh, rubbing small circles in an apparent soothing manner, and it was quite soothing for a few moments, but after that Sirius didn't find it soothing any more. He found it _incredibly _distracting; he couldn't seem to think straight at all now. His mind was soon drifting and not really paying attention to the conversation before him...

'Sirius' James mumbled, elbowing him quickly in the side.

'Hmm?' he mumbled in reply and realised as James nodded that Lily's father was watching him closely, looking expectant. He felt Remus' hand leave his thigh, having clearly realised his affect on Sirius.

'He asked if you'd been to see a movie before.' James muttered looking embarrassed and Sirius felt guilty, realising that James desperately wanted his first night at Lily's house to go well.

'Sorry, um...I was off in my own little world...no, I've never even heard of it before today. Lily says I'll like it though, so I'll have to take her word on that.' He smiled in what he knew people often thought of as a charming manner.

The rest of the meal had been rather forced and awkward and Sirius had never been so relieved to be out of a girl's company than he was to be gone from Petunia Evans.

'Merlin your sister's a nosy bitch,' Sirius said to Lily after they apparated close to the building where they would be going to see the movie.

'Siri!' James exclaimed looking offended for the redhead.

'Well, she was. She was making Remy all uncomfortable.'

'I thought you were going to hex when I saw your face.' Lily chuckled.

'She'd bloody well deserve it.'

'That's a bit harsh, Sirius. She was only curious; it's human nature to be curious.'

'Well she must have stolen someone else's curiosity too cus she has more than one person's share.' Sirius commented and James elbowed him in the side unhappily.

'Bugger off, James. I'm allowed my own opinion.'

'It's not a big deal, I agree with you.' Lily assured the group. 'My sister and I aren't exactly the best of friends. We stopped being close after I got my Hogwarts letter.'

'Speaking of Hogwarts letters!' Remus smiled proudly. 'Tell them Lily,'

'I got Head Girl!' she squealed happily and James looked like Christmas had come early.

'That's fantastic, you wanna hear something genuinely shocking?' he smirked wildly.

'What?' she asked suspiciously.

'James got Head Boy.' Sirius grinned and Remus looked momentarily surprised before hugging his friend happily.

'That's great James, surprising but great.' Remus told him proudly.

'You're okay with it then?' James asked.

'Of course I am,' Remus smiled warmly and Sirius grinned as he saw James relax instantly at the other Marauder's words. 'Actually now that I think about it, it _does make _sense that you're Head Boy. I mean, people are likely to listen to _you, _you're the most popular person at Hogwarts.' James smiled happily, clearly relieved that Remus didn't mind. 'And if you're in charge of making people follow the rules it means that _you_, for once, won't be able to break them,'

'So, it looks like you two are going to be crime-stopping partners.' Sirius smirked and Lily smiled widely, moving forward and hugging James for his achievement.

'You'll have to be on your best behaviour now,' she told him firmly and James nodded his head enthusiastically, clearly ecstatic from receiving her hug.

'Well come on then,' she smiled, pulling away from James and leading them inside the building. They followed without question and stood patiently while she purchased tickets before heading towards the next section of the building which was filled with an assortment of snacks and drinks.

'Lily...what's popcorn?' Sirius asked curiously nodding towards the paper bags.

'It's hard to explain; we can buy two bags and share them between the four of us though, that way you can see if you like it.' She smiled warmly and he nodded. 'Salt or sweet?'

'What?'

'What would you prefer it to taste salty or sweet?'

'Sweet,' he replied automatically and she nodded and picked up two of the bags.

'I want it salted!' James said loudly from where he was standing looking at the various drinks.

'Remus don't let them get large drinks.' She warned the pale young man as Sirius joined the bespectacled young man beside the drinks.

'Why?' Remus replied curiously.

'I don't particularly want to deal with those two on sugar highs.' She laughed.

'I don't want a large one anyway, Petal. Nobody could possibly need that much juice in one go.' Sirius said disbelievingly as he watched a man in his late twenties purchase a large drink. They had proceeded to get medium sized drinks instead. Sirius had to admit his drink was _very _strange looking; the liquid was a dark colour and he could see it bubbling slightly.

'Lily I think something's wrong with my juice,' Sirius found himself complaining, holding it up for her to judge.

'Its fine Sirius, it's _supposed _to be like that,' she smiled amusedly. Remus had got his things last, and Sirius wasn't in the slightest bit surprised to see that he had opted for chocolate instead of the other sweets which Sirius, himself, had purchased.

'C'mon the movie will be playing soon.' She whispered and they headed through into a room that was extremely dark and allowed Lily to lead them to their seats. They were in a set of four seats and Sirius made the point of taking the second seat from the wall, he then proceeded to pull Remus to the other side of him so that the pale young man was sitting beside the wall which left Lily and James having to sit together regardless of who sat where. Lily sat down on Sirius' other side and he was quick to smirk at her.

'Hello there, Petal. You just couldn't resist sitting next to me, huh?' he winked mockingly.

'Actually I didn't want you and James sitting next to each other, otherwise I wouldn't hear the movie.' She teased back. 'Now, the film we're away to watch is a horror movie,' she told them quietly. 'So it's _supposed _to give you a fright.'

'It's not gonna frighten me, Petal.' Sirius laughed.

'We'll see Sirius,' she smiled and he rolled his eyes at her.

'My boyfriend's a bloody Werewolf, I'm hardly gonna be frightened by some pictures with sound.' He snorted.

'Shush, it's starting.' She said quietly and he took a sip of his juice, gasping loudly as he felt the liquid fizz in his mouth.

'Lily my juice is attacking me!' he said in fright earning a _shushing _motion from the redhead and he grumbled in annoyance. 'But Liiiiiilllyyyyyy.' He whined.

'It's not attacking you, it's just fizzy, hence the name fizzy juice' She whispered and nodded towards the screen to make him focus.

Sirius didn't really understand the point of the movie, it was incredibly stupid. People were walking about on their own in dark streets and acting like they didn't expect to die as a result of this.

'Are these people really that stupid?' he asked and Lily gave a small chuckle of amusement.

'They're not real Siri, it's just a story' she smiled and he had to admit he was incredibly surprised. It was the first time that she had _ever _called him Siri.

'But seriously, it's stupid. Oh there's a serial killer on the loose, why don't I go wandering off on my own into the dark basement after hearing suspicious noises.' He rolled his eyes at the non-real people's stupidity before adding sarcastically; 'Cus that's not gonna end in you being brutally murdered by a raging psychopath.'

Remus chuckled in amusement from beside him and took his hand without anyone noticing. Sirius smiled lightly and Remus offered him some popcorn.

'Ouch!' he exclaimed loudly, gaining the unhappy glares of many people in the room and James laughed at him.

'What now Sirius?' Lily sighed exasperatedly.

'I got popcorn stuck in my teeth.'

'It doesn't hurt Sirius,'

'But it's uncomfortable.' He complained.

'If it doesn't hurt, why did you say ouch?' she asked looking irritated and slightly embarrassed due to the stares they were receiving.

'I dunno...' he mumbled weakly. 'You're being mean Lily, I'm gonna set my wolfie on you.' He mumbled huffily and he could hear Remus and James stifling their laughs at his comment.

'Oh shut up you lot and just watch the movie before you get us thrown out.' She snapped.

Sirius, however, had found a brand new interest. The art of throwing popcorn; he unsuccessfully tried to hit James several times, resulting in managing to accidently hit Lily several times instead and Sirius apologising weakly. She did _not _look happy with him now. So he decided to attack random muggles with it instead.

'Sirius, stop throwing popcorn, it's rude.' Lily told him but he continued to do it anyway, throwing it at a particularly bulky looking man who Sirius figured it would offend more.

'Siri stop!' Remus told him firmly, grabbing the popcorn from his hands and putting it down at his own feet.

'Aww, but I was having fun Remy,'

'Just watch the movie,'

'But the movie's boring Remy. Muggles are sick people, they are actually willing to _pay money_ to see people being murdered and tortured...I swear they could quite easily become Death Eaters if it wasn't for the fact that that psychopath doesn't like muggles.'

'Can you please _not _refer to _you know who_ as _that psychopath_.' Lily pleaded weakly and James gave a snort of laughter before being promptly elbowed in the side.

'Lily!' he complained loudly and Sirius could see the people around them getting steadily more annoyed with the group.

'James don't be a ponce,' Sirius smirked, knowing it would set off his bespectacled friend.

'Sirius I am _not _a ponce,' he declared loudly.

'You kind of are though,' Sirius continued.

'No I'm not!' he replied getting steadily louder.

'You are a bit, mate.'

'I AM _NOT _A _FUCKING _PONCE,' he shouted loudly and people began shouting towards the group in annoyance leaving Sirius feeling incredibly amused, James looking pissed off, Lily looking embarrassed and Remus looking exasperated.

Within minutes they had kindly been asked to leave by one of the many workers and Lily had looked _very _unhappy.

'I can't believe you did that!' she declared once they were outside.

'On the bright side we still have the juice that attacks you and plenty of food.' Sirius said giving her an apologetic smile.

'Don't even try it Sirius! I _know _you don't feel sorry in the slightest!'

'It was a stupid movie anyway,' Sirius said, rolling his eyes and was shocked when Lily suddenly burst into tears.

'What are you doing? Don't cry!' Sirius panicked, he could deal with an upset Remus, but an upset Lily he couldn't understand at all.

'I just wanted to show you something different, something from _my _world. Something we could all do together and have fun, I just wanted to show you that there _are _some things in the muggle world that you would enjoy but _you, _Sirius Black, are a rotten git.' She said, tears now rushing down her face.

'I'm sorry, okay.' Sirius mumbled feeling incredibly guilty, he hadn't realised how much it mean for her that they liked it.

'I don't want you to be sorry! I just wanted you to like it.' She cried and James moved forward instantly and pulled her into a hug.

'We did have fun, right guys.' James said pointedly and Sirius and Remus nodded quickly. 'Sirius just has the attention span of a five year old.' He joked and Lily gave a small noise that was half sob and half laugh.

'I did like it though,' Sirius told her quietly. 'Those daft idiots in that movie were pretty funny.' He grinned and she rolled her eyes at him.

'It's a horror movie Sirius; it's not supposed to make you laugh.'

'Well I guess I just got extra lucky then.' He smiled weakly and she looked at him in a debating manner.

'Okay, I forgive you.' She sighed and Sirius realised that she still hadn't moved from James' arms. He smirked at her pointedly and she realised quickly what he was finding so amusing and pulled away from the messy haired young man, grabbing a bag of popcorn from one of his hands.

'It's time for revenge Sirius,' she smiled mischievously.

'Lily, put the pop corn down.' He laughed. But she only grinned wider and began throwing the popcorn at him in large amounts.

'Liiiiiilllyyyyyy!' he complained loudly, as he darted about trying to avoid her aims. He then turned towards James and grinned, before saying; 'You were right James, she really _is _a psychopath.'

Sirius then just had to sit back and watch as James became the newest target of her popcorn attack. Sometimes, he thought to himself, it was just _too_ easy.

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

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**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	68. Chapter 68 Party Time

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Sirius Black, where the hell have you been?' James demanded furiously as Sirius walked entered the front door. Sirius very nearly burst out laughing as he was distinctly reminded of Mrs Potter when they would get home late from their days out.

'I've been out exploring the world on my red beauty,' he grinned cheekily in reference to his motorcycle. He pushed his long hair out of his face as he spoke and James made a disapproving noise, apparently he wasn't happy that Sirius had neglected to hell him of his plans before going out.

'I'd hardly say that going to my house and back counts as _exploring the world_,' Remus replied from behind him.

'Moony you came!' James shouted happily jumping forward to hug the pale young man.

'He just couldn't resist my persuasive charms,' Sirius joked dramatically.

'By that he means that he turned up on my doorstop complaining how long his journey was and saying it would be cruel for him to leave empty-handed.' Remus smiled in amusement.

'I can't believe he actually convinced you to go on the motorbike,' James smirked. 'Especially now that he's fixed it to fly as well'

'It's not quite as bad as I thought it would be...it was actually quite relaxing,' Remus admitted.

'Relaxing? I was shouting my head off the first time I went on that blasted thing!' the messy haired youth replied is disbelief.

'Yeah, but that's cus I was deliberately going extra fast to scare the shit out of you, mate' Sirius smirked.

'You're a git Sirius,' James commented, grabbing his chest dramatically in pretend hurt.

'Ponce,' Sirius muttered in amusement.

'Sirius I am _not _a ponce' James replied unhappily.

'Let's _not _start this again,' Remus butted in, the corner of his lip tugging upwards in amusement.

'Anyway, you have _no_ _idea _how happy I am that you agreed to come over! I was worried you wouldn't, after all you didn't sound like you really wanted to.' James grinned.

'And I'm sure you're far more likely to convince Lily to come if she knows that she won't be the only one that isn't drunk and on hands and knees by the end of the night.' Remus chuckled and James smiled sheepishly, clearly Remus was right about it being easier to convince Lily now.

'You know I wouldn't say that if I was you Remy...that just makes it seem like a personal challenge for me to have you on hands and knees by the end of the night,' Sirius smirked, winking at his boyfriend suggestively.

'I _really_ didn't need to hear that Padfoot,' James groaned, looking awkward and slightly grossed out. 'I don't mind you two being together but I _really _don't need to hear all the details.' Sirius only grinned wider at his friend while Remus continued to blush madly; he was clearly embarrassed by his boyfriend's words.

'Anyway...' Sirius began to set them onto a new subject.

'Dad flooed while you were out as well, my Grandfather's starting to feel a bit better so mum and dad will be coming home in a few days now,' James replied, flopping next to him on the cushy chair.

'So, are we still on for tonight then?' Sirius asked.

'Yeah, this house is going to see a party like no other!' James shouted enthusiastically. 'And all four of my Marauders will be here to celebrate with me!'

'Celebrate what exactly?'

'Tonight is the night I will finally convince Lily to be my girlfriend.'

'Sure thing, Prongs' Sirius laughed rolling his eyes at his friend's optimism.

'You'll see Padfoot, by the end of the night I will have my fair maiden entangled in my embrace,' James said dramatically, pulling Remus into his arms and holding him close to act out his imaginary scene.

'Yeah well to do that you need to have arms Prongs, and trust me, if you don't let go of _my_ boyfriend you're most definitely going to lose yours.' Sirius teased the bespectacled young man. He soon felt himself fighting a blush and noticed a similar one creeping into Remus' usually pale cheeks; it was the first time he actually referred to Remus as his boyfriend out loud.

'Well you better hope I do win Lily's heart otherwise Moony and I might just run away together,' James joked back seemingly not noticing the unusual term Sirius had used.

'Maybe we can all run away together Prongs, maybe a threesome would spice things up a bit,' Sirius winked mockingly and watched in amusement as James physically shuddered at the idea.

'You wanna go for the drink or will I?' James asked.

'Oh, I'll get more drink than you could possibly handle Prongsie-pie'

'Is that a challenge?' James smirked.

'You two are going to be a mess by the end of the party as it is, you certainly don't need a _challenge _to go with it.' Remus laughed.

'I'll go get the drink now then, it's only an hour left 'til the party starts after all.' Sirius grinned.

'I think that _you, _Sirius Black, are trying to get out of helping me clean up the mess that _you _contributed to.' The bespectacled young man huffed loudly, throwing his arms around in exaggeration as he spoke.

'What's the point? It'll just end up a mess by the time the party's finished anyway.' He found himself replying flippantly.

'Yeah well, you'd be quicker to apparate than by going on your motorcycle,'

'Yeah, but that would be nowhere near as fun.' Sirius laughed before turning to Remus. 'Can you do me a favour? Charm my door shut so no one can get in it, I don't particularly want people snogging or doing...other things...in my room'

'Yes yes, I'll make sure no one can get in it,'

'Accept us,' Sirius smirked at his boyfriend who was currently rolling his eyes in amusement.

'Yes Siri, everyone accept us.'

'You should charm your door shut too Prongs,' Sirius added to his best friend. 'Unless, of course, you don't mind people getting up to stuff in your room,' James paled instantly in horror and Sirius laughed wildly before giving Remus a quick peck on the lips and heading off out the door once more.

But he had to admit, as he flung a leg over and climbed onto the motorcycle, the night's air seemed far colder to him now that he was riding alone and he realised just how much he missed having Remus' warm form pressed against his as he raised the vehicle up into the sky. That was enough to make him determined to return as quick as possible, he just wanted to be back with Remus and breathe in the familiar breathtaking scent.

Naturally, when Sirius had returned from his trip, the party had begun and he could quite clearly hear the ridiculously loud music playing from the Wizarding Wireless Network before he had even reached the house.

'James!' Sirius hollered as he noticed his best friend standing out in the garden talking to Lily Evans, but his voice was unheard above the music and he drew closer before they noticed him.

'Sirius!' Lily exclaimed happily and Sirius soon found himself to be the unexpected receiver of a hug.

'Hey there, Petal' he smiled warmly. 'I come bearing gifts for my best friends.' He laughed, holding up one of his two boxes; which was filled with numerous bottles of firewhisky.

'I'm not really a firewhisky fan Sirius,' Lily smiled and he then proceeded to show her the smaller of the two boxes which held various other drinks.

'Any idea where Remus is?' he asked the pair and Lily shrugged looking completely bewildered.

'Um...last time I saw him was...in the Kitchen,' James told him, quickly taking a bottle of firewhisky from the box and then nodding at Lily to say she could take something of her choice. She chose one a white coloured bottle with a strange label on the front that was unreadable due to it being in a foreign language.

'Sure well, I...uh...' but he didn't finish his sentence as he was feeling incredibly confused as to why his best friend was currently staring into his eyes.

'You've been drinking!' James accused suddenly and Sirius shot him a sheepish grin.

'Not much...I was bored, it's a long fly back here on the motorcycle,' he laughed.

'I can't believe how irresponsible you are, Sirius!' Lily said looking horrified. 'You can't drink and drive your motorcycle, it's dangerous!'

'I'm hardly gonna run people over in the sky Lily,' he said feeling slightly irked.

'No you'll just fall to your death...much better' she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she spoke each word.

'Remus is gonna kill you, mate' James laughed in amusement and Lily elbowed him in the side, taking his laughter to be encouragement.

'Looks like your plan's not gonna work now Jamsie wamsie' Sirius burst out in a bark of laughter and Lily looked at him as if he was slightly mad. James had immediately looked sulky at his words and took a rather large gulp from the bottle in his hands.

'Slow down, mate' Sirius warned him with a smirk. 'You'll be falling about in no time if you do that.' He added before he turned and began walking into the house.

He then made his way to the Kitchen to drop off the large boxes of alcohol and was extremely unhappy to see Remus standing in the corner of the room and talking away with a blonde headed girl that he recognised as being on the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. She was smiling at Remus flirtatiously and Sirius could feel jealousy bubbling up inside of him as he looked at the pair, she wanted to have _his _Remus and that was definitely _not _allowed.

'Hello there Remus,' Sirius grinned falsely as he reached the pair before adding in a low voice. 'And Sophie,'

'It's Courtney,' she replied looking incredibly irritated by his arrival.

'Whatever,' Sirius replied flippantly. 'Anyway, I'm here now so you can bugger off, Remus doesn't need your company anymore,'

'Sirius!' Remus exclaimed before looking apologetically towards the Ravenclaw and quickly saying; 'I'm sorry for his rudeness, please excuse us for a few minutes.' Sirius then found himself as the unwilling victim of Remus' dragging abilities.

'What in Merlin's name was that all about?' Remus asked looking highly unimpressed. 'I really don't understand why so many girls would gladly throw themselves at you Sirius; you're a terribly rude and offensive person at times.'

'I'm only offensive to people I don't like, and I'm rude to people I can't be bothered with-'

'-I suppose you can't bothered with most of Hogwarts then,' Remus replied, rolling his eyes. 'I can't believe you were so offensive to Courtney, she's a really nice person, if you just let your guard down around people more often then maybe you would talk to more people and-'

'-I don't _want _to talk to more people.' Sirius cut him off harshly. 'I have my Marauders plus Lily, anyone else if either an arsehole, boring, or just someone to prank.'

'You don't _have _to be openly hostile to people, Sirius. I think you'd like Courtney if you gave her a chance. She's actually quite like Lily in some ways.'

'Yeah and I bet it's all the annoying ways and none of the good. Can we just get over all this crap and have fun?'

'Fine, let's go talk to Courtney then,' Remus replied, raising an eyebrow questioningly and Sirius groaned in annoyance, shaking his head in return. Damn Remus' need to understand his actions. 'Why not? What's the point in coming to a party if you won't even bother to socialise with people?'

'I don't want to talk to Courtney because she's a stupid cow,' Sirius huffed and Remus gave him a disbelieving look. 'Fine, I was jealous okay. She was flirting with you and you didn't seem to mind it.' Sirius said accusingly.

'You can't be serious,' Remus groaned.

'I think you've known me long enough to know that I am definitely _Sirius_.' He replied with a small smirk.

'Don't make jokes to avoid your emotions Sirius, you'll just end up venting your anger on someone' Remus sighed and grabbed a hold of his arm firmly, pulling him towards the stairs.

'Where are we-' but he stopped talking when they reached his bedroom door and Remus removed the charm so they could enter, charming it shut again once they had entered.

'Sit down Sirius,' so he did. 'Why were you jealous?' Remus asked calmly.

'She was flirting with you! I already told you that,'

'So?'

'What do you mean, "So"?'

'I mean it's not important Sirius, it was harmless and it's not like _I _was flirting with _her_ so I don't really see what the problem is.'

'I don't want people flirting with you, looking at you like I do. I don't want them to take you away from me...' he mumbled quietly feeling ridiculous for saying it out loud.

'I can't stop anyone from flirting with me-'

'-Well you could have told her to bugger off-'

'-What I can do is promise that no one is going to take me away from you, Sirius' and Sirius looked up to see Remus looking at him with such open love and affection that he knew Remus meant what he was saying.

'I just...its hard okay, I mean, she'd be so much better for you than I am. She's smart and pretty and...I'm just...I'm a mess Remus. I constantly mess things up and you...you trust me so much and you _really _shouldn't because-' but he was cut off as Remus pulled him into one of their most passionate kisses yet and when they pulled apart Remus gave him a look that quite clearly said _you were drinking before you even got here, weren't you? But we'll discuss that later_.

'You can't decide what's good for me and what's more I'd trust you with my life Sirius, regardless of any mistakes you've made. It's in the past now and-'

'-But it's _never _going to be in the past Remus! Not really...it'll always be there, I mean, James hasn't forgotten about it, he brings it up without even meaning to'

'What do you mean?' Remus asked, his voice now sounding low and suspicious.

'I mean...' he trailed of worriedly, he wanted to tell Remus about breaking his promise, wanted to just admit it and plead for forgiveness. He felt an incredible need to spill his guts out and he had a feeling that the firewhisky he had consumed during his ride may have been adding to that feeling. 'Ugh...you're going to hate me for this...it'll prove just worthless my promises are.'

'What did you do?' Remus asked worriedly, a slight note of fear in his eyes that made Sirius feel far worse than he thought it could. Remus clearly thought he'd done something terrible to someone and that hurt.

'Well, James' parents have had death eaters trying to get them to join with _you know who_ and I know I promised you I wouldn't put myself in that kind of danger but James wouldn't leave, I asked him to but he wouldn't and I...I couldn't leave without him Remy...'

He wasn't sure what he had expected but it certainly wasn't Remus to hug him close unexpectedly and whisper that everything was okay and that he wasn't mad at him.

'But...but I broke my promise,'

'I know, and I don't like the idea of you being in harm's way but, well, nowhere is safe now, and I understand that you wouldn't leave without James' Remus looked incredibly frustrated but he seemed to have came to the decision that it wasn't worth them falling out. 'I understand that this isn't like before, James is involved and I wouldn't expect you to leave him. Marauders come first no matter what,' Remus sighed and Sirius gave a small smile in remembrance of those words. It seemed like so long ago since they had drawn the circle on their hands and promised their friendship would always come before everything else.

'Do you like her?' Sirius asked unexpectedly, he couldn't help but ask, feeling the question niggling away in his head.

'Courtney?' Remus asked looking surprised and Sirius nodded. 'No...Definitely not, she's a nice enough girl but...she's not really my type'

'Oh, so you have a type?' Sirius teased, feeling much better now that he knew Remus didn't like the blonde twit back.

'Sirius, even if I did like her, which I don't, it wouldn't have been important. People can't help being attracted to other people, but, there is a difference between being _attracted_ to someone and actually wanting to _be_ with someone and there's no way I would _ever _act on anything, because I don't _want _anyone else.'

'Just ignore me, I'm being stupid.' Sirius sighed, lying down on the comfy bed. He knew he had overreacted but he wasn't used to people showing an interest in Remus and he _really _didn't like it.

'No, you're feeling anxious that I'm going to up and leave and I won't. I mean it this time Sirius, I won't _ever _leave you again.' Remus said quietly, climbing onto the bed next to him and lying down beside him.

Without a second thought Sirius turned onto his side and crushed his lips to Remus' passionately, feeling incredibly grateful that Remus was all his.

'I do believe I said it was a personal challenge for me to have you on your hands and knees by the end of the night' Sirius growled lustfully against his boyfriend's neck, eliciting a moan from the scarred young man.

'That sounds like quite an interesting challenge,' Remus replied, his eyes heavy and full of longing.

'Well, I always did enjoy a challenge.' Sirius smirked. 'Maybe you should cast a silencing charm...just in case'

'Somehow I doubt we'd be heard over the music, Sirius' Remus chuckled.

'I hope that's not another challenge, Mr Lupin,' he smirked in amusement and Remus pulled out his wand, uttering the silencing charm.

'I'd be interested in seeing if that challenge could be fulfilled, Mr Black,' Remus replied with a similar smirk playing on his lips. This was going to be much more fun than spending his night with a bunch of people he didn't really like.

It wasn't long before their clothes had been discarded and Sirius had allowed Remus to pull him atop of him rather firmly, their hands travelling across each other and Sirius could feel the passion beginning to flow through him as they caressed each other.

He wasn't sure how long they had been enjoying each other's touch and readying themselves to take it further when a rather loud noise had interrupted them unexpectedly.

'PAAAAAAAADDDDFFFFOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTT! A voice called from beyond the door and Sirius felt himself freeze instantly.

'Merlin's saggy fucking balls!' Sirius groaned in frustration as he pulled away from his currently naked boyfriend.

'Surely the drink's not affecting him _that _quickly.' Remus said in disbelief.

'Pads le'me me in!'

'James bugger off!' Sirius shouted through the door.

'He's not gonna go away 'til he sees you Sirius,' Lily called out and Sirius groaned in annoyance.

'Yeah, well unless you both want traumatised then you should leave'

'Are you doin' _that _in my house?' James' gasp was audible from the other side of the door and he could feel Remus stifling a laugh by pressing his mouth against Sirius' shoulder, causing Sirius to give a small moan at the feeling.

'Eww Padfoot!' his best friend whined through the door.

'You can come in for two minutes' Remus called, sitting up and shifting away slightly from Sirius before pulling the covers up quickly to cover them. Sirius wanted to throttle his bespectacled friend for the interruption as Remus picked up his wand and proceeded to open the door.

'There you are!' James shouted joyously, he currently had his arm draped around the shoulders of a rather unhappy looking Lily Evans. 'I knew you two'd be up here...'m just 'appy you're covered up' James giggled. 'no' that I mind o' course, but I don' really wanna see you naked Padfoot...' he trailed off.

'Padfoot?' Lily asked Sirius looking confused, clearly confused as to why James was repeatedly referring to him as that.

'James remind me to _never _give you firewhisky again, you certainly can't handle the drink you bloody lightweight and you can't even keep your bloody mouth shut'

'I bet you can't either...' James giggled. 'But I bet that's cus Mooooooonnnnyyy wants you to keep your mouth open...so that you can-'

'-James shut the hell up,' Sirius barked angrily. Partially because Remus would be embarrassed by the accusation that his friend was away to declare and partially because the last thing he wanted was Lily hearing that and realising that the other nicknames must have meanings too.

'Don' call me James, 'm Prongs r'member? Cus I got big prongy things...Padfoot, give a cuddle' he complained, throwing himself forward to hug his best friend and Sirius groaned in annoyance.

'James, mate...why don't we have our own little party up here? Yeah? We can stay up here...away from everyone else' Sirius sighed. It wasn't like he and Remus were going to have fun now anyway and he'd rather James didn't go blurting things to people in his current state.

'Incest Padfoot, incest' James was declaring unhappily.

'That's _not _what I meant James' Sirius said firmly and sat his friend down on the bed, struggling to keep covered as he did so and he could feel Lily's eyes on him momentarily before she looked away, rather embarrassed to have ended up seeing Sirius and Remus in such a state. There was no way she could pretend not to know what had been going on before they had interrupted.

'I can't believe you let him get like this!' Sirius accused the redhead unhappily.

'_I _didn't do anything; _you _were the one that bought that big box of firewhisky.

'Look I don't care; can't you just take him to his room and get him to sleep it off?'

'I'm not going in his room with him! Plus, he's _your _best friend!'

'You know Head Girl's are supposed to help people' Sirius pointed out grudgingly.

'Head Girl's also _shouldn't _be at a house party where people are....getting up to _things _in the bedrooms.' She replied unhappily.

'It's my bloody bedroom and my boyfriend so I'll do whatever I please,' Sirius snapped defensively. It wasn't like he'd pulled a random person up into someone else's room and he really didn't see what the problem was.

'Padfoot...I feel sick' James said suddenly, his face now taking on a strange colour and Sirius sighed in defeat.

'Lily, turn around.' Sirius said quickly.

'Why?'

'So I can put something on,' he told her, rolling his eyes and the obviousness of his intention. 'Unless, of course, you'd rather see me naked? Personally, I couldn't care less but I'm trying not to destroy your _innocent _mind, which, by the way, is a term that I'm using _very_ loosely'

'Sorry,' she squeaked awkwardly, turning to face away from him and Sirius pulled back the covers and pulled on his boxers in annoyance, he couldn't be bothered putting anything else on at that moment, and then proceeding to help James up onto his feat.

'I'll get him to bed,' he grumbled unhappily.

'Okay...make sure you get him a bucket or something in case he needs to be sick,' Remus reminded him softly.

'I'll leave...' Lily mumbled awkwardly, clearly not wanting to intrude upon Sirius and Remus any further.

'Don't be silly, Petal. We can go find Pete and bring him up too or go join the party downstairs.' Sirius told her with a small smile. 'I'm not going to send you back down there on your own. I'm hardly going to leave you alone without James to protect your honour.' He joked and she smiled at him unsurely.

'You don't have to...I didn't mean to interrupt the two of you,' she blushed wildly.

'It's fine honest Lily, you never know what kind of creeps people might turn into with a few drinks in their system and I wouldn't leave you alone with people I don't trust not to hurt you' he told her quietly, he knew he was most likely overreacting but he felt protective of Lily, she was one of them now and a girl to boot. Chuckling slightly he realised how incredibly unhappy Lily would be with his _sexist _thought.

'What?' she asked him curiously.

'Nothing, just a silly thought. Anyway, I won't take too long...' he informed her. He didn't want to imagine the kind of pressure that drunken idiots might have tried to impose on Lily if she had went back downstairs alone. He certainly wouldn't have a problem telling people to fuck off if they were getting out of control and anyone he caught putting pressure on anybody in this house was going to receive a pretty painful hex for it. However, he was fairly certain that no one would even attempt to go after Lily with him and Remus there, not if they knew what was good for them anyway.

'If you're sure it's okay...' she trailed off, looking towards Remus as well who gave a nod of confirmation to show he didn't mind either.

'Right, I'll put this daft git to bed and then come back to get dressed again' he told them.

Sirius then continued onwards, half dragging James to his own bedroom. He was incredibly grateful that people hadn't started descending upstairs to fool around with others yet as it saved him the awkwardness of having people see him in his boxers. He could just imagine how many of the girls at the party would have tried to drag him off to an empty room at the sight of him with so little clothing on.

'Right James, I put a bucket at the side of your bed...okay?' Sirius told his best friend softly and the messy haired young man gave a small noise that Sirius took to be a noise of understanding. He then proceeded to reach forward and remove the glasses from his friend's face and placed them on the bedside table.

'I'll come check on you in a while mate,' he said quietly. 'I'll charm the door as well...don't think you'd appreciate random visitors in the night,' he added in a teasing voice and James gave a small chuckle, his eyes already closed lazily.

'Padfoot?'

'Yeah, Prongs?'

'You're the best mate...or brother...I dunno, but you're the best one I could ever ask for' James replied, his voice sounding almost like a sigh as he spoke.

'Same here' Sirius replied softly. 'Night Prongs'

'G'night Pads'

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

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	69. Chapter 69 A Bad Start to Seventh Year

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Wakey Wakey,' Sirius grinned, prodding James in the face and receiving a quick smack for it. James Potter _hated _being prodded, and unfortunately, for one James Potter, Sirius Black was perfectly aware of this.

'You're a git Siri,'

'Says the guy that just hit me in the face,' Sirius laughed. 'Remy won't be very happy if my face swells'

'I didn't hit you hard Siri,'

'He doesn't know that,' Sirius smirked and James opened his eyes wide at his words. 'You know, there's plenty of spells that make your face swell...like that one we used on Snape back in our third year.'

'That's not funny; I'll kick your ass if you do that,'

'Jamsie, we both know you couldn't manage that,' he laughed and quickly received another hit to the face, this time by an unexpected pillow attack.

'Git!' James laughed before pushing back his covers and getting out of bed.

They then proceeded to go downstairs for breakfast and were surprised to see a distressed looking Mrs Potter shakily drinking a cup of tea at the Kitchen table.

'What's wrong?' James asked immediately looking extremely concerned.

'Your father had to go into work early today; he got the message about hour ago. There was an attack this morning, just a few hours ago...'

'Like what, just a random attack or...you know,'

'The dark mark...someone died.'

'That's horrible...' James trailed off sadly and Sirius sighed in frustration.

'This is ridiculous, how can they get away these things!' Sirius vented angrily. 'They're destroying people's lives and they just get away with it!'

'I know, but there really _is _little the ministry can do to stop it. They can't predict where and when these attacks will happen, or who to.' Mrs Potter replied sadly, pouring the two young men some tea.

'When in doubt of what to do, have a cup of tea.' James said weakly and Sirius gave a brief smile.

'Yeah, works for your mum anyway,' he replied quietly, not feeling like joking about. Finding out about these attacks was not something he really wanted to hear about on the September the first. He didn't like the idea of leaving Mrs Potter alone in the house so often, James' dad had been working really long hours now that the attacks had began and the Ministry of Magic was panicking like mad.

'Because it only happened a few hours ago it isn't in today's Daily Prophet either, although it will most likely be in tomorrow's one.' Mrs Potter said quietly. 'For all we know it could be an old school friend of mine, it could be someone in our neighbourhood's relative. It could even be someone we knew well and we wouldn't know until tomorrow.'

'I know, it's insane,' James replied looking incredibly down.

'Well...there's no use in you boys getting all worried over it. Just be glad it isn't any of us.' She told them looking incredibly worried. 'You boys best go get ready then, you have a train to catch and I'm behind on breakfast.' She said giving them a small smile but Sirius could see it wasn't quite reaching his eyes, she was clearly worried sick that it could be someone she knew, that it could just have easily been them.

The Potter household had only received one house call this summer, trying to convince them to join. Sirius and James had been upstairs at the time and had listened while Mr and Mrs Potter pretended they were the only people currently in the house. It had been heartbreaking to know how terrified they had been. But that wasn't all, it was only two weeks ago that Mr Potter had been threatened just outside the Ministry of Magic building itself. Things were genuinely a mess right now and the Ministry had little to no control over it.

Sirius and James had taken to Flooing the others every day just to check they were okay and Sirius couldn't wait to be back at Hogwarts so that he didn't have to worry about them every day, Hogwarts was the safest place for them right now. But the downside was that they wouldn't be able to see James' parents every day and Sirius was fairly sure that they would neglect to tell them about any _visits _they had.

It took a while but eventually they were sorted and he and James had travelled to Platform 9 and ¾ hurriedly, deciding it was best if Mrs Potter just stayed at the house which had recently had some wards put up to try and keep people out. Sirius was rather looking forward to returning to Hogwarts, being able to just sit about in the Gryffindor dorm with his friends and not have to worry about any of them being hurt. He couldn't wait to laugh and joke with his friends at the feast and he _definitely _couldn't wait to curl up with his Remy at the end of the night, and go to sleep knowing that Remus was perfectly safe from harm and was incredibly relieved that he wouldn't have to toss and turn anxiously in a vain attempt to get some much needed sleep.

'James! Sirius!' Lily called, and they saw a flash of thick red hair running towards them before seeing the green eyed witch up close.

'Hey there, Petal' Sirius smiled warmly and was surprised when she hugged him, soon turning to James afterwards and hugging him as well.

'Our first day as Head Boy and Head Girl,' she exclaimed excitedly to the bespectacled young man who grinned back enthusiastically.

'It certainly is; I'll probably mess it up knowing me.' James laughed and she rolled her eyes at him.

'No you won't, you're going to fantastic' she smiled encouragingly and James practically beamed at her compliment.

'Yeah, we even get to boss the Prefects around' James joked and she shoved him playfully.

'No, you get to a responsible young man,' she smiled and Sirius couldn't help but laugh at James being referred to as a _responsible young man_.

'Bugger off Sirius,' the messy haired teen laughed.

'Where are the others?' Lily asked curiously and Sirius shrugged in return.

'No idea,' he said impatiently, now scanning the crowd for the familiar faces of Remus and Peter. They didn't half know how to make him feel on edge.

It was less than fifteen minutes until the train when Peter had rushed up to them, apologising for running late and Sirius felt immediately worried.

'Where's Remus?' Sirius harshly.

'I don't know; I've only just got here.' Peter squeaked looking uncomfortable at being addressed in such a forceful tone.

'I thought he was with you,' now he was incredibly worried. Remus Lupin wasn't the type of person to run late on the first day of term, and it was another two weeks until the full moon so he had no excuse for not being here.

'James...' he found himself whimpering, he felt extremely paranoid now and he wanted desperately for someone to tell him everything would be alright.

'Maybe he's on the train, we should look.' Lily suggested to him kindly but he shook his head firmly. Remus _wouldn't _have gotten on the train without him. He wouldn't leave him standing on the platform to worry, that much he knew.

'I'm not getting on the train without him.' Sirius said firmly.

'Don't be so bloody stubborn Sirius,' Lily exclaimed.

'What you'd rather I went all the way to Hogwarts worried sick?'

'You'll be just as worried here, how do you plan on getting in touch with him?'

'Floo, owl...somthing'

'Sirius, if something really is wrong and something has happened then he's not going to be reachable.'

'If something has happened then I'll fucking kill the people responsible' He growled protectively.

'He'd want you to get on the train Sirius, regardless of whatever may or may not have happened he'd want you on the train and safe.' She said pointedly.

'I'd like _him_ on the train and safe as well but apparently that's not happening.' He said bluntly, feeling his anxiety increase by the second.

'I'm sure he's fine Sirius, he'll just be running late' Peter tried to reassure him.

'Remus doesn't do _late _unless _we're_ the reason for him being late.' Sirius replied shortly.

'He's right, James admitted worriedly. 'And I'm not going to Hogwarts til I find out what's going on either'

'You're Head Boy, James, you can't _not _go' Lily exclaimed.

'I don't care Marauders come first, no matter what.' He said firmly.

Sirius felt a pair of eyes on him suddenly, and he turned to see a group of Slytherins gathered along a bit from them and at the edge of that group he could see Regulus staring back at. His eyes were strangely fascinated and questioning and Sirius felt his anger boil instantly when a smirk appeared on his brother's face, _he must know something _he thought automatically.

'Regulus!' he hollered angrily and made in the dark haired young man's direction.

'Sirius, what are you doing?' James shouted, following him instantly and the others all followed him worriedly.

'Whatever you know, you best bloody well tell me' Sirius said warningly and Regulus only laughed in his face.

'I don't know what you're talking about _brother' _he sneered.

'Where the fuck is he?' Sirius snarled furiously, leaping forward and grabbing hold of his brother by the collar. 'I swear if you don't talk I'll kill you with my bare hands, and that would certainly be a disgrace to a member of the_ Noble House of Black' _

'Oh,' he exclaimed, feigning sudden realisation. 'You mean your shady little prefect friend that you lot usually have following you about,' he smirked in amusement.

'I swear on Merlin's _fucking _Grave-' Sirius snarled in warning.

'-He doesn't know anything Sirius, just ignore him, he's trying to wind you up' Lily said looking at Regulus as if he was scum.

'What would you know? You're just a stupid fucking mudblood,' Regulus spat angrily at the redhead and James whipped his wand out furiously.

'You better take that back you stupid son of a bitch!' the bespectacled young man warned darkly.

'I wouldn't do that if I was you, otherwise I might not remember anything about your little friend.' Regulus sneered openly.

'You better start talking now or so help me, I will fucking curse you right here and now,' Sirius growled menacingly.

'Last I heard; he got a little visit this morning...I'm told by _very _reputable sources that the aurors didn't quite get there before the dark mark was summoned.' He smirked cruelly and Sirius felt an incredible sense of anger take over him.

'YOU'RE LYING!' he screamed in disbelief.

'See for yourself, it'll be in tomorrow's Daily Prophet. You might even get a pretty little picture to keep as a souvenir' the younger boy mocked.

'YOU SON OF A BITCH! I SWEAR I'M GONNA RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OF!' Sirius roared furiously, pulling his wand out with every intent of causing severe damage at least.

'Expelliarmus,' James shouted quickly and Sirius soon found himself without his wand.

'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING JAMES?' he roared feeling his anger rise further.

'I'm stopping you from doing something you'll regret! Remus wouldn't want you to do this and I don't want you to either. I know what you're capable of Sirius and I'm not going to stand by and watch you get yourself carted off to Azkaban because you chose not think before acting.'

'YOU HAVE _NO IDEA _WHAT I'M CAPABLE OF!' he yelled. 'BUT IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME MY WAND I'LL BE GLAD TO FUCKING SHOW YOU,' he snarled in warning.

'I'm doing this for your own good Sirius,' James replied determinedly and Sirius leapt forward for his wand, tackling James to the ground and they began rolling around as Sirius tried to get his wand back.

'STOP IT, STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!' Lily shrieked, tears now running down her face. 'Remus is missing, the dark mark has been seen and you two are scrapping like animals. You're best friends!'

Lily's words soaked in and Sirius stopped struggling immediately, he had wanted so desperately to lose himself in the madness of it all. He wanted to let himself get so desperately out of control that he couldn't think at all. He didn't want to _think, _didn't want to think about the reality of what was going on. But there was no avoiding it; he'd have to deal with it eventually.

James was pinning him down effortlessly now that he was no longer putting up a fight and Sirius felt himself go into a state of panic. It couldn't be Remus, he couldn't be the reason the dark mark had appeared this morning. Remus _couldn't _be dead, he couldn't possibly live without the scarred young man; the idea was too painful to even consider.

'Severus, please' Lily pleaded to the dark haired young man who had stayed to the back of the group of Slytherins. 'Tell me what you know'

'Why should I?'

'Because I'm out of my mind with worry, he's my _friend. _It's the decent thing to do' she said firmly and Sirius looked up at the young man he had nearly killed the year before. But he didn't wait for the response.

'AND IF YOU DON'T TELL US EVERYTHING YOU KNOW I'LL MAKE SURE YOU DON'T EVEN LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO GET TO HOGWARTS!' Sirius snarled viciously.

'What in Merlin's name is going on?' a voice asked from behind them and Sirius spun round to see Remus staring at him, eyes fearful and worried at what he had just witnessed Sirius shouting.

Sirius couldn't even bring himself to say anything, he just threw himself forward at the sight of his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around Remus protectively and clinging desperately to him, feeling his chest practically explode with emotion.

'You lot are sick in the head!' Lily screamed furiously at the group of Slytherins who were now laughing hysterically at their joke_. _Regulus, who was still standing at the front of the group, was smirking cruelly at the sight of his brother in such a state.

'Will someone please explain what on earth is going on?' Remus demanded looking incredibly worried before looking directly at Regulus. 'What did you do?' he asked; his voice low and dangerous.

'I don't need to answer to someone like _you_' Regulus said ferociously and Sirius felt panic rise in him as he remembered his brother _knew _about Remus' condition.

'I'll explain everything Remus; just get him on the train.' James said quietly, his voice now dangerously low.

But at that moment the whistle sounded; interrupting whatever James had been away to do and everyone had to quickly rush forward and board the train before its departure.

They rushed along to find a spare compartment and Sirius dropped down onto the seats without a word, he couldn't believe his brother had been that _cruel. _Sure Regulus was an arsehole but he hadn't thought he would go as far as to make him think that Remus was _dead. _

'James we need to go along to the Prefects carriage and sort stuff out.' Lily said quietly but James shook his head furiously.

'I don't care Lily, Marauders come before everything else.'

'What are you even talking about?' she asked looking frustrated.

'That's we are; the Marauders – Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.' He said quietly, looking at his friends with both affection and worry. 'and no matter what that _always _comes first.'

'I don't know what any of this rubbish is supposed to mean James but we have a _duty _to carry out.'

'My _duty_ to my friends is more important than a stupid badge.' James said quietly.

'Go James, we wouldn't want you to lose your badge over us...' Remus told him softly as he sat down next to Sirius.

'I'll explain everything...' Pete piped in and Remus nodded.

'Sirius?' James asked quietly and Sirius looked up feeling incredibly confused inside, his emotions were all over the place and at that moment he couldn't really care less what James was talking about.

'What?' he mumbled.

'You okay with me leaving?'

'Yeah, just stay away from any of those Slytherin arseholes.' He said quietly.

'As best as I can, mate. But I still gotta play nice with the Prefects.' James muttered looking incredibly frustrated. Lily then proceeded to drag James out the door and off in the direction of the Prefect's carriage.

'You know, in all the time you were a Prefect...you've never once sat in the Prefect's carriage.' Peter mused, looking at Remus. Sirius felt a strange annoyance with their chubby friend at that moment; firstly, because right now he couldn't care less about whether Remus had travelled in the Prefects' carriage whilst he'd had his badge; and secondly, because he knew Remus _had _sat in the Prefects' carriage before, after their argument on the train before 5th year.

'What happened?' Remus asked quietly, ignoring Peter's sentence.

'Where the hell were you Remus?' Sirius said desperately, he couldn't even piece together how horrified he'd felt by his boyfriend's late appearance.

'I got held up; we had...before I left...'

'Start again,' Sirius said quietly feeling worried further by Remus' inability to speak straight in explanation.

'Okay, but I want you to promise not to get worked up about this,'

'Remy...'

'Please Sirius,'

'I...I promise, I'm completely calm'

'Two death eaters came to my house this morning and they...they asked me to join them...' Remus said quietly and Sirius felt his heart rate speed up instantly.

'Why! What...did they hurt you?'

'Siri-'

'-did they hurt you?' Sirius asked firmly.

'No,' Remus replied quietly. 'They told me...they said I have a week to decide whether I'm going to join them or not'

'But...how can they check up on you anyway? You're at Hogwarts, you'll be unreachable.'

'I can only assume that they have people at Hogwarts...Skytherin's most likely.'

'Well, it's settled then.' Sirius said firmly.

'What is?'

'_You _aren't going _anywhere _without me.' Sirius said firmly.

'Don't be ridiculous Siri; you can't be with me twenty four hours of the day.'

'Yes I can, well...no I can't...cus we have different classes...but I don't mind being late. I'm taking you to and from all your classes and I'm sticking with you the rest of the time.'

'Sirius, it isn't feasible,' Remus said, rolling his eyes at him.

'I _will _make it work Remy, I'm not having you hunted down by some stupid idiots who think they're _you know who's _right hand men.'

'Sirius, there's no point in going over things we can't change.' Remus sighed in frustration before looking at him with such a look of worry that Sirius was quite startled.

'What happened on the platform?' Remus asked him. 'You said you wouldn't go threatening people, I _certainly _didn't think you'd be stupid enough to _anywhere_ _near _Snape, of all people...'

'It wasn't like that, Remy; I didn't go over there because of Snape.'

'Then what was going on?'

'I...you weren't there Remy, I didn't know where you were.' He said quietly, swallowing uncomfortably to rid himself of the lump in his throat. 'You weren't there, and I was already freaked out as it was because Mr P got called into work early because of attacks and the dark mark had been left somewhere...'

'Right,' Remus said quietly, placing a hand on his arm as Sirius spoke.

'So then, I was looking around to see if I could spot you cus I got freaked out when Pete arrived and you weren't with him either...I mean you're _never _late. Then I saw Reg looking at me funny and I thought he knew something so I went over to him, shouting the odds like the stupid idiot that I am...'

'You're not stupid Siri,'

'And then he...he said you'd been attacked, that it was _your _house that had the dark mark over it...' He couldn't say anything else, feeling like the already horrible lump had expanded, cutting off his voice and immediately buried his face in his hands, trying desperately not to cry as he thought about it.

'Oh Siri...' Remus whispered quietly before wrapping his arms around Sirius firmly.

'I can't believe how bloody gullible I was...but I just freaked out and I wanted answers...' he mumbled into Remus' chest.

'I know; I understand...I do.' Remus whispered into his hair. 'What I don't understand is how _Regulus _knew about the dark mark...it's not in the Daily Prophet anyway.'

'Probably knows the psychopaths that carried out the job.' Sirius muttered bitterly.

'And then he'll have seen you, looking worried and with me nowhere in sight-' Remus replied in a similarly quiet voice.

'-and thought it was the perfect opportunity to freak me out.' Sirius groaned, realising how stupidly obvious it was.

'Because he is bound to have known that Mr Potter works for the Ministry and that you would have known about the attack this morning.'

Sirius nodded weakly against Remus' chest. He couldn't believe he'd came so close to hurting his brother...and badly. He could quite easily picture himself being carted off to Azkaban for the things he would have willingly done to the younger boy. If James hadn't taken his wand...he didn't even want to think about it...and then he realised something.

'Shit!' Sirius exclaimed unhappily.

'What?'

'James has my damn wand!'

'What?'

'He took it off me stop me cursing Reg,' Sirius admitted weakly, feeling incredibly guilty under Remus' shocked stare.

'Sirius...'

'I know Remy, but I freaked out...he said you were _dead_.' Sirius said, emphasising his point and feeling incredibly frustrated and upset.

'Okay...but I don't want you letting your emotions cloud your judgement Sirius. You're so quick to defend people, or get revenge for those you care about that you don't stop to think about the consequences.'

'I'm sorry...I don't mean to,' Sirius replied guiltily.

'I know...I'll go get your wand Sirius, the last thing I need is _you _getting into scraps with people on the train,

'I'm not looking for fights Remus'

'Maybe not, but you're easy to provoke when you're upset. I'll only be a few minutes'

'No way! Not with those idiots around, I told you you're not going anywhere without me so I'm coming too.'

'Fine,' Remus sighed in defeat.

'You gonna be okay on your own for a bit, Pete?' Sirius asked. 'It's only for a few minutes.'

'I suppose so...' Pete replied quietly and Sirius nodded before following Remus out the compartment door.

'We won't be long!' he called to Pete as they left.

'Is it a good idea to leave Pete alone?' Remus asked, looking worried as they walked along the train.

'It's only for a few minutes...he'll be fine. The death eaters are hardly gonna try to recruit _him, _are they?' Sirius scoffed.

'I suppose your right...' Remus said quietly, looking over his shoulder and Sirius felt his protectiveness of the scarred young man increase only further.

'I won't let anyone near you Remy, I promise.' Sirius told him strongly. 'Nobody's getting past me anytime soon.'

'Super-Sirius to the rescue?' Remus joked weakly.

'Super-Sirius will _always _be there to save the day, Remy.'

'I don't doubt it,' Remus replied, smiling affectionately at him but Sirius could still see the worry clouding in his boyfriend's eyes and Sirius felt terrified...because, in all honesty, he had no idea how he was going to go about protecting Remus...

**Just want to say a BIG thank you to monkeybunspotter for reviewing so consistently, I'm really grateful that you take the time to read and review and I'm sorry that I don't get the chance to reply to your reviews often because you don't have an account. But it definitely is appreciated!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**ClatuVrata**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**Kombinant**

**GiggleNo9**

**monkeybunspotter**

**Higurashikai**

**Siredna**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	70. Chapter 70 Worries Shared

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Thank Merlin the sorting ceremony is over, I'm practically starving' James groaned as the feast began and the food began appearing on the table.

Sirius made a non committal noise in return; he was far too worried about Remus to really care what James was saying or about the sorting ceremony or about James' _precious _food.

'You okay, mate?' James asked, his face scrunching up in concern.

'No, not really' he sighed feeling incredibly frustrated and Remus gave him a look that told him to just forget about everything they had discussed on the train.

'What's wrong?' James asked immediately, looking between them worriedly. 'If it's about what happened on the Platform-'

'Sort of but drop it James, we can't discuss it here'

'Still I can't believe he actually said those things to you Sirius!'

'He's always been a berk, he just took it further because he didn't get all the little chances during the summer like he used to.'

'You know, I swear I'm gonna kill your brother one day, he's a right little arsehole' James said angrily, shooting the Slytherin a glare as he spoke.

'He's not my brother, James. You are' Sirius replied defiantly. He didn't care if they were related by blood, he wasn't _really _his brother. James was far more of a brother to him than Regulus would ever be.

'Either way he's a right annoying git, after all that crap on the platform we got to the Prefects' carriage and _he _was there, he's actually been made Prefect...Merlin knows why'

'It's not like there's all that good a choice of moral examples in Slytherin,' Sirius replied with a shrug. He couldn't care less about Regulus right now, he was far more worried about figuring out who in Slytherin would be the people trying to get Remus alone. He couldn't see it being Regulus...he figured it would be far more likely to be the seventh years, or possibly sixth years that would have been made Death Eaters so far. He let his eyes fall over the Slytherin table, looking for any signs of people watching Remus or looking shifty in any way.

'Stop thinking about it,' Remus said quietly to him from across the table and Sirius gave a small growl of irritation.

'How can you expect me to stop thinking about it?' Sirius snapped back in frustration and he saw a slightly hurt look shoot through Remus' features momentarily before the scarred young man hid it behind a nearly emotionless mask.

'I just don't want you worrying yourself sick about this,' Remus said sadly, his voice now sounding small and unsure after being snapped at and he found himself feeling instantly guilty.

'I'm sorry; I'm just frustrated I didn't mean to snap' Sirius said softly and kept his eyes on Remus until the pale young man looked up and met his gaze. It was shocking how much he loved looking into those eyes; it brought him a great deal of comfort and he subconsciously reached out to take Remus' hand but James noticed and pushed a plate of food into his outstretched hand to prevent him from drawing attention to him and Remus. His boyfriend was now looking at him worriedly; clearly surprised that Sirius had nearly taken his hand in front of the entire Gryffindor table.

'What's wrong?' Lily asked Sirius worriedly, apparently confused by his behaviour and looking from Sirius' hand to his face.

'The world is full of psychopathic bastards,' Sirius growled angrily. 'That's what's wrong,' his words had drawn immediate attention to him and James turned towards him concernedly.

'You know, I think we need to talk,' James said to him, his food apparently now forgotten, and grabbed Sirius' arm firmly, pulling him quickly towards the doors.

'You're Head Boy you can't just go wandering off without explanation!' Lily called to James but Sirius was surprised to see that James didn't even reply to her and had continued towards the doors without a second thought.

After what seemed like an eternity they reached the last set of doors and walked out into the cool night's air, quickly sitting down upon the steps, allowing the cool breeze to ruffle through their hair as they each thought of what to say next. Sirius couldn't help but remember sitting on these same steps at the start of their third year after Regulus had been sorted into Slytherin and immediately thought back to how, even then, Remus had been the one to hold him and comfort him. Remus _really _didn't deserve all the problems that seemed to constantly be thrown at him.

'Remus explained why he was late,' Sirius said quietly, looking out across the grounds as he spoke and avoiding meeting the bespectacled young man's eyes.

'I suppose that's why you've been acting weird...'James replied quietly and Sirius gave a loud sigh, unsure what to say...but this was _James, _James was his best friend and he decided to just be completely honest.

'I'm worried James, _really _worried. Your house isn't the only one to get a called in on from death eaters. That's why he was late; they came to his house this morning, asking _him _to work with them.'

'Why him?'

'Probably because they'll be wanting to convince Werewolves to join their side. That stupid psychopath will probably get a fair amount of them too; most Werewolves haven't been given as many chances at normality as Remus has. They'll be easy to convince to get revenge on the ministry and they're the perfect way to get other people to join _you know who_. It'll basically be a case of _you know who_ saying "join me or I'll set Werewolves on your children"'

'Everything's getting so serious and so fast...' James groaned, rubbing at his head in worry.

'I know, Remus said they wanted him to join them...but they're bluffing. The death eaters aren't going to want Werewolves in their ranks with them and _you know who_ isn't going to want Werewolves as death eaters either. Werewolves are nothing more than filthy animals to those people, they don't want him to _join _them...they just want him to do their bidding.'

'What did he do...I mean, they just let him say no?' James asked disbelievingly.

'They didn't ask him for an answer, said they'd give him a week to decide and it's scaring the shit out of me James' he admitted fearfully. 'I don't know what to do; they clearly have people in Hogwarts to follow up on it and...even if I try my hardest there's no way I can keep an eye on Remus every hour of the day, every day of the week, for the next year.

'We need to go to Dumbledore, surely he can offer Remus some kind of protection...I mean...he's Dumbledore.'

'I don't think it would help any James, Dumbledore can't protect everyone, and he certainly can't keep Remus by his side for the rest of his life. I just wish there was something I could do...I _can't _lose him James' he said weakly and Sirius found James' arms wrapping around comfortingly.

'I swear, Sirius, whatever we have to do we'll do it. I'll help you keep an eye on Remus...and the others can help too. If we all pull together-'

'-It's not enough James! What about when we have Care of Magical Creatures? How the hell am I supposed to protect him if we're at different sides of the school?'

'I don't know, but we'll try. Lily will be with him in Ancient Runes anyway and-'

'Lily?' he scoffed. 'Lily won't do anything that would involve breaking rules, she certainly couldn't bring herself to do any _real _damage and stop people from hurting him. Not like I would, I'd curse the bastards long before I let anyone hurt him'

'You're sounding dangerously close to how you were acting last year,' James warned him worriedly. 'Remus would be terrified to hear you speaking like that again'

'I just want to keep him safe! Why can't anyone understand that?' he spat angrily, he wasn't out of control he knew perfectly well how he felt when he was losing control. No, this was something entirely different he was genuinely just shit scared of Remus getting hurt; this wasn't about controlling a situation this was about preventing anyone from bringing any harm to Remus...he instantly gave a groan in realisation, he could see that the two ideas weren't actually all that different and he could also see the line of what was acceptable and unacceptable beginning to blur once more in his mind.

'I know you just want to protect him Sirius, but Remus is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. His defensive magic is better than yours and he's certainly stronger than any of us are and-'

'-But he won't do anything about it James. You and I both know that! He'll just take it because now...now they could reveal him at the drop of hat...'

'I don't think so,' James replied honestly.

'What?'

'I don't think they know about him being a Werewolf, I don't think _you know who _would give them any reasons or details, they'd be expected to follow up whatever he says to follow up but I doubt they actually _know _anything.'

'What is its Reg though? What if he was asked to follow it up? My family are ruthless James; I don't even want to imagine what Reg might do to him...'

'Siri-'

'-What if Reg threatens to reveal him James? What if he has to either join them or be revealed?'

'You and I both know the answer Sirius, he'd far rather be revealed than go doing horrid deeds for that monster.'

'I know...but he'll be chucked out of school James and if-if he has to leave then-then I'm leaving with him.'

'Sirius, you're over thinking things, it won't come to that and even if it did he wouldn't want you to throw away your education.'

'I don't need an education and-'

'-and nothing Sirius! If he lost his chance to finish his education then you throwing yours away pointlessly would only make it even worse for him.'

'I don't care James, once he's left this school he'll have no protection _at all _from these psychopaths, they'd be at his door every other day looking to coerce him into helping them and I couldn't sit here at Hogwarts perfectly safe and sound and just pretend like it wasn't happening. I wouldn't leave him to suffer alone.'

'None of this matters Sirius, okay? Because none of this is going to happen, okay? I promise you Sirius, I'll do whatever I can to keep him from harm...he's one of the most important people in the world to me Sirius...and you're probably the most important person to me so just...just trust me'

'I-I trust you...' Sirius whispered and James nodded, pulling him into another firm hug and giving a small sigh of frustration himself.

'The feast will be ending soon...'

'We better get back in, I don't want Remus wandering about without me,' Sirius muttered, he could tell he sounded incredibly paranoid but he couldn't help it. He _had _to keep Remus safe, no matter what the costs were...

'James Potter, you are a dead man walking!' Lily warned in a dangerously low voice when they returned to the Great Hall, they had just arrived in time for everybody heading up to their Common Rooms and James had barely arrived in time to oversee everything with the redhead.

'Look Lily, I'm sorry. It's my fault James had to leave okay, he was just being a good friend' Sirius told her firmly but she didn't seem any happier at his words.

'Oh well, that makes everything all peachy then, doesn't it?' she replied sarcastically and Sirius felt his irritation bubbling to the surface.

'Lily will you stop thinking about your bloody badge for two minutes cus you are annoying the _fucking _hell out of me right now.' Sirius snapped and he saw her instantly look worried. Lily turned away from him and looked straight towards Remus, fixing him with a look that said _he's going to lose control soon_.

'If you have something to say, then say it' Sirius said tensely. But she completely ignored him, speaking to the scarred young man instead.

'Remus I swear, whatever is going on with him, you need to sort things out otherwise you're going to end up with a repeat of last year's fiasco.'

'SHUT THE FUCK UP LILY, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, GO PLAY HEAD GIRL ALREADY BECAUSE I DON'T WANT YOU ANYWHERE NEAR ME RIGHT NOW.' Sirius shouted furiously, he _really _didn't need Lily Evans pointing out his faults right now.

'DON'T YOU DARE START SHOUTING AT ME, I HAVE DONE _NOTHING _WRONG, I GET THAT YOU'RE UPSET BECAUSE OF THIS MORNING BUT DON'T GO TAKING IT OUT ON ME!'

'YOU KNOW WHAT? I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT YOU THINK RIGHT NOW, JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE!' he snapped in anger and he quickly found Remus' hand on his arm and James' hand on his shoulder at the same time, apparently both trying to calm him down.

'Lily, he's just stressed out and you're only riling him up more by arguing with him,' Remus said quietly. 'I'll explain everything later on, just come up to the dorms with James once the two of you are finished.'

'What do you mean _explain everything_? What's going on Remus?' she asked, suddenly looking a lot more worried than before.

'Like I said I'll explain it once we're all in the dorm and I know no one is listening in.'

'Remus...'

'Trust me Lily; it's nothing to worry about just-'

'NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!' Sirius fumed, feeling his anger increase suddenly.

'Sirius _shut up _you're drawing attention to us' James said warningly. 'You're going to draw attention to us and then they'll know that something's set you off and the people who are involved will know that he's told you _everything _so just think first before you act for once in your life,' Sirius shut up instantly, feeling incredibly guilty and looking towards Remus worriedly.

He could feel his anxiety rise with every minute that they stood there and he wanted nothing more than pull Remus to him and lose himself in the scarred young man's comforting scent.

'You want to wait 'til we're all sorted and finished our duties? Then we can all head up together.' James said pointedly and Lily's forehead creased with concern at their strange idea and Sirius knew instantly that it was a bad idea.

'No, it'll just draw attention if we act differently to how we would normally, see you soon, mate' Sirius told him firmly, clapping him on the shoulder and nodding towards the doors to indicate that they should leave and Remus and Peter both began walking with him towards the exit...

James and Lily had taken a ridiculous amount of time doing their duties before finally arriving at the seventh year's boys' dorm and Remus had quickly launched into a full and detailed explanation of the events which had caused him to be late that morning.

'Oh my goodness...' Lily whispered worriedly, her eyes trailing towards Remus and then eventually landing on Sirius. 'I'm sorry Sirius; I understand why you were so upset now.' She told him guiltily.

'Its fine,' he shrugged without meeting her eyes with his own.

'No it's not.' She told him firmly. 'I should have focused on finding out what was wrong, I was just wound up about my first task as Head Girl and-'

'-Forget it Lily, it's not a big deal'

'Maybe not...' she contemplated before adding; 'but I still think you should be careful Sirius, don't let your temper get the better of you because you really _were_ reminding me of how you were acting last year...before...well before things got out of hand,' and she was now looking around the others as if waiting for someone to try and challenge her explanation.

'He was upset Lily, but he's learnt from his mistakes, he wouldn't let something like that happen again.' Remus told her quietly and moved closer to Sirius who was currently sitting on Remus' bed, propped up against the headboard in thought.

Sirius instantly wrapped an arm around the slender young man's waist and held him close, feeling extremely protective of his boyfriend who was now settling his head on his chest in a calm and trusting manner.

'I just wouldn't want to see things get out of control again...' she told them quietly and she fixed Sirius with an unavoidable gaze that left Sirius feeling incredibly ashamed. The last thing he wanted was to lose control like last time and do something stupid, he couldn't bear the idea of losing Remus once again...it would tear him apart.

'Trust me Lily; I won't be making that mistake again...'

'I certainly hope not,' she replied quietly, and Sirius understood her meaning perfectly. If he messed things up again then this time he wouldn't have any kind of support from her. 'I need to get moving, there's not much use for a Head Girl who's been awake the whole night.' She sighed and headed for the door.

'Don't Lily...' Sirius said quietly, he knew he was being irrational but he couldn't help feeling worried. 'Stay here...just this one night, please' he asked her and he was surprised to see a look of affection in her eyes and she looked like she was contemplating his words.

'You can leave early and no one will ever know,' he continued. 'You can still look like the perfect Head Girl example for all the little pupils.'

'But...there's not any room and I'm not sharing a bed with anyone,'

'You can sleep in mine,' he smiled at her. 'I always end up in Remus' bed anyway,'

'Okay...but I'm going up to my dorm to get something to sleep in,' she told them quietly before exiting the dorm.

'Oh Merlin!' James exclaimed loudly. 'Lily Evans is going to be sleeping in the same room as me! And in the bed next to mine!'

'Calm down James, you wouldn't want to get too _excited _if Lily's gonna be back soon.' Sirius smirked in amusement.

'Shut up!' James laughed, aiming a pillow at him expertly. 'I am not going to let you ruin this moment for me,'

'Well it's nice to know something good has come out of my situation,' Remus said softly and Sirius was sure that it wasn't as much of a joke as Remus was making it out to be. He got the distinct feeling that Remus was just as worried about his situation as Sirius was, he was just trying to hide it to ease Sirius' worries and that only made Sirius fret all the more.

It wasn't long before the boys had all readied themselves for bed and Lily had returned, wearing bed attire and looking slightly embarrassed to be seen like that by others. She had quickly shuffled over to the bed that would normally have been Sirius' and she climbed beneath the covers with a small sigh, seeming less stressed than she had been when she had left.

'I'm glad you chose to stay here Lily,' Sirius told her with a small, grateful smile. 'I just wanted to have you all close by tonight...it's easier to sleep if I know you're all here and safe'

'Its fine Sirius,' she ensured him before saying; 'sweet dreams' to the group and pulling the bed hangings closed around her. He felt far calmer that they were all together in the one room and were completely safe; he knew that Lily had never been in any _real_ danger in her own dorm but he felt better knowing that everyone he cared about was close by.

Sirius soon did the same and sunk beneath his own covers, well Remus' covers, snuggling up close to his Remy. Sirius smiled as Remus gave him a quick peck on the lips before turning onto his side and facing away from him and Sirius soon found himself draping an arm over the young man's scarred stomach protectively. He loved the night time when he could just lie there with Remus, with barely any clothes on and feel Remus' skin against his own. For some reason it was incredibly comforting to feel the warmth of Remus' body against his own and he felt far more relaxed than before.

'Goodnight Sirius,'

'Night Remus,' he replied, shifting onto his side and pulling Remus against him carefully, needing the closeness desperately. 'I love you, Remy' he sighed contentedly against his boyfriend, pressing his lips against the pale young man's back and he felt him shiver slightly against him.

'I love you too, Siri,' Remus replied and Sirius could practically _hear _the smile in his voice.

'Both of you just shut up and go to sleep!' James called out but Sirius could hear the light amusement in his best friend's tone and Sirius chose to ignore his words.

'Remy...' he whispered quietly and Remus gave a small noise to show he was listening and Sirius placed a tentative kiss on the scar adorning the pale young man's neck. 'I swear Remy, I won't ever let anyone hurt you' he felt his boyfriend relax further into his embrace upon hearing his whispered words and Sirius felt himself relax against the scarred young man, inhaling that familiar Remus-y smell and closing his eyes softly, slipping into a dreamless sleep.

**I feel exhausted! I haven't slept at all last night :P But it was worth it, I stayed up to watch the finale of Lost which was on at 5 O'clock in the morning here haha. Still undecided whether I liked the ending or not but I didn't have to see my fave character die, which I thought I would have to see eventually, so I'm quite happy :)**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Cafin8dsodaa**

**xharrypotterismylifex**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**SweetoothMegs**

**Siredna**

**ClatuVrata**

**GiggleNo9**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	71. Chapter 71 Worries, Fall Outs and Swims

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Do you make it your aim in life to upset first years on their first day of school?' Lily chuckled as they reached the Great Hall.

'It wasn't me, I swear, it was James' Sirius laughed.

'I think it was both of you and he's going to get a telling off from me, you can trust me on that one. He's _supposed _to be setting a good example for the school as Head Boy, or at least teaching them the rules of the school'

'He is,' Sirius defended with amusement. 'He was teaching them the rule to not to sit on our favourite chairs by the fire otherwise the punishment is that your hair will accidently be turned green and make you resemble a Slytherin – which, to any _real_ Gryffindor, is a highly effective deterrent' Sirius laughed as he remembered their faces; the first years had looked far from impressed with their new hair colours.

'If someone sets it up then it's not an accident.' Lily said pointedly and they took their seats at the table along with Peter who had remained quiet since leaving the dorms earlier that morning. Sirius felt like he should probably ask his friend what was wrong but he supposed Peter was probably just worried about all the death eater recruitment stuff, being the weakest of their group he wasn't surprised that Pete felt vulnerable.

'Where in Merlin's name have they got to?' Sirius groaned in annoyance as he looked around the Great Hall for his best friend and his boyfriend.

'Just have something to eat Sirius; I'm sure they'll be here soon.' But he didn't really feel all that hungry, his stomach was practically knotted with worry.

'I'm gonna kill them for leaving without me...James knows how worried I am and he still-' Sirius started unhappily.

'-Oh my goodness...' Lily cut over him.

'What?' Sirius groaned in annoyance, unhappy with being cut off mid sentence, and looked up to see Lily looking wide-eyed and worried.

'Sirius, don't get worked up, okay' she told him and Sirius immediately felt his stomach drop at her words and he turned towards the entrance doors, half expecting to see a hurt Remus and incredibly grateful that that wasn't the case. What he did happen to see was James Potter walking through the doors, but there was absolutely _no _sign of Remus Lupin.

'James Potter I'm gonna fucking kill you!' Sirius exclaimed, in panic, as he reached his best friend's side just in front of the doors.

'What?' James exclaimed looking confused. 'What the hell have I done?'

'Where's Remus?'

'Sirius I-'

'-Where the hell-'

'-Sirius shut up for two seconds. Right, I'm confused; I thought he was with you.'

'No, _you _were the one who said "Sirius, don't worry about it, you go down to breakfast and I'll go with Remus to the bathrooms, I need to go anyway."'

'Yeah, but we bumped into McGonagall and she wanted to speak with me so I couldn't stay with him without rousing suspicion and I figured he'd come straight here afterwards.'

'Shit!' he snapped angrily.

'I'm sorry; I assumed he'd be with you by now.' The bespectacled young man replied worriedly.

'We need to go get the map,' Sirius groaned instantly, he could feel his anxiety building rapidly.

'Sirius, they said they'd give him a week you have nothing to worry about.' Lily told him quietly from behind him. 'You know what Remus is like he'll just be-'

'-Lily shut up, I don't need you making stupid claims, they don't make me feel any better and they certainly don't-'

'-Why are you all blocking the entrance doors?' came the curious voice of Remus Lupin and Sirius felt his heart soar momentarily before feeling his temper flair.

'Where the hell have you been?' Sirius demanded and Remus looked quite taken aback.

'I was in the library,' Remus replied quietly.

'The library? Why the hell would you need to go to the library? It's only the firstday back.' Sirius said disbelievingly.

'I was checking to see if Madame Pince had any new books in and-'

'-NEW BOOKS' Sirius cut in furiously. 'Fucking hell Remus'

'Sirius don't get angry with him' James said quietly and Sirius instantly felt his anger deflate a little when he took in his boyfriend's expression.

'Ugh, I told you I wanted to stay with you' Sirius reminded him.

'I don't need a babysitter Sirius,' Remus sighed. 'You can't be with twenty four hours a day, I just wanted to go for a walk on my own like I would have been able to do any other time.'

'But Remus, I'm just looking out for you. I don't want you to get hurt,' Sirius complained.

'I'm not going to let my life be controlled by these people.' Remus replied shortly. 'Now let's sit down and eat breakfast already otherwise we're going to be late for class.'

Needless to say, breakfast had been an extremely awkward affair and Sirius had found himself feeling increasingly frustrated as the group sat in the near silence.

'Siri,' Remus mumbled quietly as they exited the Great Hall and he turned instantly to look at the pale young man only to see how genuinely upset Remus looked. 'Siri, I'm sorry for being short with you...I know you're worried, I just don't want to have to rely on everyone to keep an eye on me all the time.'

'Come on Remus,' he said tugging him by the hand and leading him away from the rest of the group.

'Where do you think you're going?' Lily asked them disbelievingly.

'We'll catch you guys up, no worries' Sirius called out.

He was soon pulling Remus along the corridor and straight into the nearest empty classroom. Remus opened his mouth as if he was away to complain about being dragged into a room for _snogging purposes_. But Sirius' mind couldn't be further away from such things at that precise moment.

He closed the classroom door behind them, making sure no one had been around to see and then proceeded to pull the scarred young man into his arms, holding him tighter than ever and just revelling in the feeling of having him so close.

'I'm sorry, you know. Sorry if I'm...if I'm acting over-protective or paranoid or-'

'-Sirius-'

'-let me finish, or if I'm coming across as controlling. I don't mean to, I swear, I'm just worried about you and I got panicky and I snapped at you and I would _never _set out to make you feel bad and-'

'Sirius stop, you're rambling.' Remus smiled affectionately and Sirius fought back a blush as he gave a small smile in return.

'I know; I'm just...I'm worried about you Remy and I can't help it.'

'Well, why don't we do something tonight, just the two of us? It's been a while since we had some proper time alone and it might help take your mind off of things'

'You know, I'm the one who should be trying to take _your _mind off of things' Sirius smiled.

'Maybe, but you always did think things over more than I do, it's like your mind can't switch off for two minutes' Sirius had to admit Remus was quite right about that, he really did tend to think things over too much and just wind himself up further. Even when he did the most stupid of things it was always because he had over-thought the possibilities and panicked.

'You know you really should have taken Divination,' Sirius laughed.

'Why?'

'Cus I swear you're bloody psychic sometimes Remy,'

'Well, my psychic abilities tell me we're going to be in serious trouble when we're late for class' Remus chuckled and pulled at his hand to make him move but Sirius just tugged him straight back toward him and caught his boyfriend in an unexpected kiss.

'You didn't see that one coming' Sirius teased.

'_You're _the who said I was only psychic _sometimes' _Remus said, smiling victoriously and Sirius had to admit Remus was far from the shy young boy he had originally met on the Hogwarts express all those years ago. Sure, he was still shy in smaller, less obvious ways, but, Sirius loved that Remus was able to relax so much around him.

'So, off to class then' Sirius laughed.

'Somebody changed subject when the realised they'd lost' Remus teased as they exited the room and Sirius, being the mature seventh year student he was, decided that the best way to settle the argument was to stick his tongue out in reply, _maturely_ of course.'

'Where d'you two get off to?' James asked unhappily as the two Marauders appeared for their Transfiguration class, receiving a less than pleased look from Professor McGonagall, an expression that suggested they would get a talking to at the end of the lesson, before taking their seats.

Sirius loved that he sat with James in Transfiguration. It was by far James' best class and Sirius rarely struggled in it either which meant they always had time to talk and have a laugh, well...as much as anyone could in Professor McGonagall's classroom, of course.

'Nowhere special, just wanted a quick chat' Sirius shrugged and James gave him a disbelieving look.

'A chat?' the bespectacled smirked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

'Wow I'm not surprised Lily won't date you, mate' Sirius teased. 'You look seriously fucking creepy when you do that'

'Bugger off you git!' James laughed, shoving him playfully.

'Shut up you bloody ponce' Sirius smirked.

'I am not a ponce!' James declared loudly, gaining most of the class' attention including Remus and Lily who were shooting them clear looks of warning.

'Whatever Jamsie,' he teased in amusement and James proceeded to stick his tongue out in a similar fashion to how Sirius had on the way to class.

'Mature Jamsie, very mature. Definitely Head Boy material, you are' Sirius told him, giving a loud bark of laughter and realising suddenly he was being watched by quite a few of the girl's in the room.

The class had quickly been given an assignment and Sirius was becoming more and more aware of the many eyes watching.

'Have you pranked me or something?' Sirius asked, turning to face his messy haired best friend.

'Um...no,' James replied looking confused. 'Why?'

'I feel like people are staring at me,' he mumbled and James quickly lowered his voice to match Sirius' barely audible level.

'They are, I guess they're probably hoping that they can get you on a date,' James snorted in amusement. 'You know, if you ever decide to tell people about you being _you-know-what_, then you should tell me in advance so I can get a good seat and some popcorn. I genuinely would _love _to see the looks of horror on those poor girls' faces if you were to randomly announce it.'

'Don't be stupid. I wouldn't do that.' Sirius said firmly.

'You mean you two don't plan on...you know, telling people...ever?'

'No; firstly, it's a stupid risk that would only make things difficult for us and; secondly, it's nobody else's business so I don't see why I should have to inform anyone anyway.'

'You can't really want to keep it a secret though.' James said disbelievingly. 'I mean, wouldn't you like to just be...well, like any other couple at Hogwarts?'

'Of course I would you daft git, but it's not that simple. I'm not gonna do anything that would draw more attention to us than normal, it only makes us bigger targets. Plus, he has enough problems without people being arseholes to him for no damn reason.'

'I just think that...well, it must be tough for him. You know?'

'What?' Sirius asked feeling defensive.

'Well, the last thing he needs is _another _secret tearing away at him.'

'It's not like that!' he exclaimed and then realising he was gaining attention he lowered his voice once more. 'Look we shouldn't be mentioning _secrets _in a room full of people. But _trust me_ James, its better this way. He doesn't even _want _people to know.'

'What about you? What do you want?' James asked, raising his eyebrows as if he knew something.

'I don't know James.' He sighed, feeling utterly confused.

'I think we both know _exactly _what you want'

'Like I said, it's not that simple. Sure, I want to be able to do anything I would have if it was with you know...a girl' he made sure to keep his voice exceptionally quiet, feeling extremely uncomfortable with having other people in the room during their heart-to-heart.

'Obviously, and you can'

'No, James, no we bloody well can't. It's not that simple, we'd never _really _be like anyone else. Wherever we went we'd be treated funny, mocked, avoided...hell I wouldn't put it past half the Slytherins to jump us for that kind of thing.'

'The Sirius I know doesn't give a shit what anyone else thinks, or about consequences. I wouldn't just let them do something like that to you, mate. Plus-'

'-It's not about me James. Hell, I'd take it all for a chance of some form of normality for me and him but...but I couldn't bear the idea of anything happening to him James. He doesn't deserve that kind of hassle.'

'So, you're going to spend your whole lives pretending you're _just friends_.' The bespectacled young man accused unhappily.

'We don't have another option James. I won't have him suffer so I can get an attempt at normality...or whatever twisted version of normality it would be, anyway.'

'I just think it's unfair that you'll never-'

'-life is unfair, James. Deal with it, I have to.' he snapped in frustration and he immediately felt like he needed some way to vent out his frustrations.

'Look, mate, I'm sorry okay...it's just...I hate thinking that you two won't ever have whatever I could have if I was with Lily and-'

'-You're not with Lily though, are you? So really, _I'm_ better off than _you_ right now' he retorted callously.

'Fuck you Sirius; I was only trying to help.' James said bitterly and without another word the messy haired young man turned away, focusing on his work and making no more attempts at conversation for the rest of the class...

In fact, it turned out that James was particularly upset with him and, since Sirius still felt quite irritated from their discussion, neither of them had made the effort during the rest of the day to actually start a conversation or apologise to one another.

'Okay, which one of you is going to be the slightly less immature one who will tell me what's going on?' Lily asked once they were seated at Gryffindor table that evening.

'Nothing's going on,' James lied, not looking up from his food.

'Oh really?' she asked doubtfully. 'Sirius?'

'Nose out Lily,' Sirius warned, being careful to keep his tone calm and level.

'This is ridiculous. You're seventh years, and what's more, you're _best friends_. What could possibly have happened during a _class _that could have you two being so quiet and distant with each other?'

'Look, we just had a difference of opinions,' Sirius said plainly. 'I'm going for a walk.'

'I could come with you,' Remus suggested with a small, unsure smile. He seemed unsure whether his company would be appreciated at the current moment and was remaining still, apparently waiting for confirmation.

'Of course you can, Remy' he smiled softly to reassure his boyfriend that he was indeed wanted and automatically reached out before retracting his hand with new found speed, grateful that it had apparently gone unnoticed. Well, nearly unnoticed, James had caught on extremely quickly for one who normally tended to be oblivious.

'I told you Sirius, you and I both know what you want. James said looking somewhat pitying, and it only made Sirius feel all the more irritated.

'Shut up, James' he said coldly and immediately turned to stride out of the Great Hall, heading straight for the lake.

'Am I no longer wanted on your little walk?' Remus called out, a few minutes later, and when he turned to see the scarred young man he found that Remus had one eyebrow raised questioningly.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to walk off' he mumbled feeling quite stupid as they headed out into the castle grounds together.

'It's okay, I understand...well actually I don't understand at all' he replied looking worried.

It wasn't long before they had reached the lakeside and were at their usual rest spot under the large tree. Staring out over the water Sirius gave a small sigh and felt Remus lean against him somewhat hesitantly, looking around to make sure there was no one else in sight.

'So, are you going to tell me what happened with you and James?' Remus inquired softly.

'He thinks that you and I should, you know, _come out_ to the rest of the school.' Remus' eyebrows shot up instantly, apparently quite surprised by this.

'And...I thought you wanted to anyway,' Remus said quietly, looking slightly worried and now looking straight across the water instead of at him.

'No, well...I thought I did. But I don't, not really. He doesn't seem to understand that it _really _isn't that easy. He can't seriously expect the whole school to just shrug it off and not care, it's not like the school's bursting with gays'

'You never know, maybe somewhere else in the castle there are other people saying the same thing' Remus replied quietly.

'He said...he said it wasn't right that because of _this _you have another secret to burden yourself with.'

'It's not easy' the pale young man admitted sadly 'but I don't think telling everyone that we're together would help in any way. If anything it would just make us targets for attacks from Slytherins and, if I'm honest, probably by people from other houses as well. As for the ones who _aren't _as prejudiced...well, I doubt even _they _would treat us the same as we are now'

'Exactly, Hogwarts is your only chance to be treated normal Remy and...I don't want to take that away from you'

'I don't want to hold you back just because I'm worried about people knowing though' Remus admitted worriedly. 'I don't want you to pretend to be something you're not'

'I'm not pretending anything though, it's not like I go around flirting with people or anything. I'm just neglecting to tell people that they've got no chance cus I'm already taken.' Both young men chuckled at these words and Sirius felt himself loosen off a little, feeling slightly less stressed than he had throughout the day.

'So my dear Remy,' Sirius grinned, standing up and spreading his arms out theatrically.

'Why do I have the feeling this is going to involve a plan that I'm _not _going to be all that fond of?'

'Tut tut Remy, you haven't even heard me out yet' he laughed. 'I was going to say, why don't we take a little dip in the lake?'

'Don't be silly Sirius, it's not warm enough. Nobody ever goes swimming in that lake, it'll be freezing'

'Aww come on Remy, it'll be fun.' He pleaded before adding, with a wink 'Plus I can use my body heat to keep you warm' Remus rolled his eyes at his words and Sirius' grin only widened at this.

'Fine, but I swear I'm going to die one day due to your silly ideas'

'Maybe, but at least it'll be a fun way to die' Sirius joked.

'I don't think there's really a _fun _way to die, Sirius' his boyfriend replied, his eyes lit up with amusement.

'Less talking, more stripping' he laughed, tugging at the pale young man's robes and Remus was quick to raise his eyebrow in a questioning manner. 'I meant so we could swim, Remy. Don't deliberately take it to mean something else.' Sirius huffed, not really meaning his huffiness at all.

They quickly stripped down and when Sirius pulled off the last of his clothes, leaving himself completely naked Remus looked horrified.

'Sirius!'

'What? No one's here Remy, its dark now and we're not even supposed to be outside so I doubt anyone else is'

'Exactly Sirius, we're not even supposed to be outside never mind skinny dipping in the lake'

'So you're going to go in wearing clothes?' Sirius smirked finding the situation quite hilarious and knowing that Remus wouldn't want to walk about wet afterwards.

'What if we do get caught swimming though? I don't want to have to get out naked in front of a teacher!'

'We're not going to get caught Remy, relax' he chuckled and wrapped his arms around the other young man, shivering slightly from the cold air against his bare skin.

'But-'

'-but nothing Remy, it's bloody cold though so if we're going to swim I'd rather we did it now and got used to the water quickly.'

'Okay,' Remus sighed in defeat and Sirius grinned one of his widest grins yet at his victory. Remus quickly stripped off the rest of his remaining clothes and allowed himself to be tugged towards the water.

Remus had been right. The water was _freezing _cold. He had to keep a firm grip of Remus' arm in order to keep him moving otherwise he was certain that his boyfriend wouldn't have ventured further into the cold watery depths.

'It's freezing Sirius, this was a stupid idea'

'Stupid ideas are always the ones that are remembered the clearest though' Sirius replied with a smirk.

'Stupid ideas are the ones that land us in the hospital wing' Remus corrected looking far from amused to be in such cold water. 'Why did I let you talk me into this?'

'Because I'm incredibly persuasive and you love me _far _too much to say no and break my little heart' he explained theatrically, pretending to wipe away a tear from his eye.

'You really are one in a kind, Sirius' Remus chuckled and Sirius only grinned wider at his words.

'Why thank you my fine fellow' he bowed dramatically, well, as far as he could bow without going under the water.

'Now what?' Remus sighed, but the amusement never left his eyes and Sirius knew that he didn't _really _mind it anyway.

'Now my good man, we fight!' he declared and tackled his boyfriend down into the water in a loud _splash _as they sunk fully beneath the water.

They continued like this for a while, it could have been minutes or hours, neither was really sure how long they spent tackling each other, splashing and thrashing around in the water. Sirius couldn't even begin to explain how much he had had; it had even been more fun than when he was played with the Werewolf on the full moon, as well as decidedly less painful.

'You know, we probably _should _head inside, we're going to end up ill if we're in this water for much longer.'

'Does that mean we get to spend the day cuddled up in bed?' Sirius joked.

'No, we'd be spending the day in the Hospital Wing with Madame Pomfrey bugging us and making sure we don't even talk.' Remus laughed in return.

'Hmm,' he pretended to ponder. 'I don't believe I'm too keen on that idea'

'I didn't think you would be' he replied with a roll of the eyes.

'Does that mean we're going now?' he pouted as Remus took him by the hand and started pulling him back towards the lake's edge.

'Yes, and _we _are going to up to the dormitory and wait for James to get back from his Head Boy duties, then _you _are going to talk to him and sort out your issues because right now the last thing we need is people falling out.'

'Yeah, you're right. We can't really afford to be falling out over things,' he admitted as they reached the end of the water and stepped onto the ground. 'I should probably be worried that it seems warmer out here than it did in the water, right?' he joked.

'Yeah, but like you said. We've got body heat' Remus joked.

'Yeah, but there's not much chance of any fun when we share a dorm with two other blokes' he huffed, gaining a small laugh from his boyfriend.

'Aww, poor Sirius' the other pretended to coo.

'You're mean, Remy'

'You're whiny, Siri' Remus teased him back.

'See you proved me point,' he replied in a similar tone as he pulled on his clothes.

'Right off we go then,' Remus smiled affectionately and Sirius felt it again, that urge to take his boyfriend's hand but fought it off knowing that he couldn't really do it when they were going back to the castle now. He was, however, pleasantly surprised to find Remus taking his hand and giving it a small squeeze before dropping it once more and leading the way to the castle.

Remus was right; he'd have to make up with James as soon as the messy haired young man returned from his duties. He _really _hated not talking to James; who else could he turn to when he was worried about Remus? After all, the last thing Remus needed right now was Sirius fretting and making him even more worried.

There was also the fact that as much as Sirius liked to think of himself as independent and not having to rely on other people he really _did _need James, they were best friends after all and he _really _didn't want to go to sleep with his best friend mad at him. Plus, he got the distinct feeling that he might have taken it _too far _with the Lily comment, and he knew that if anything that was bound to have hit a nerve with his best friend...his best friend who he never wanted to _hurt _like that. Yes, he would most definitely have to find a way to make it up to the bespectacled young man...maybe a trip to Honeydukes was in order...

**Sorry the update took longer than usual, my life's a bit hectic right now :P**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

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	72. Chapter 72 The Seventh Day Back

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Sirius, just sit still, you're going to mess up my potion and I _will _hurt you,' Lily rolled her eyes at him.

'Our potion Lily, our potion,' he chuckled, but his laugh was fake and he felt distinctly out of sorts. Today was one week since they had returned to Hogwarts. One week since Remus had been asked to join the death eaters and one week since Remus had confided that he only had seven days until the death eaters would be following up to find out if he was willing to join them.

Needless to say, Sirius was currently feel _extremely_ fidgety and on edge. He had realised just how lucky he was to have Lily as his partner in Potions; she was taking control of making their potion and stopping him from causing any random explosions as well as accepting that he wasn't going to be of any help today. However, his fidgeting was off putting and had caused Lily to tell him off countless times for apparently distracting her from the potion.

'Calm down, you're making it ridiculously obvious that you're worried. Anyone with eyes can tell that something is up with you so just calm down.'

'It's hard to calm down Lily; I can't stay with him after this class and I _know _something is going to happen.'

'If something _does _happen then we will deal with it Sirius. Like Remus had already told you, who knows how many times now, you can't be with him all twenty four hours of the day. You just have to go about your day as normal and hope for the best.'

'How can you be so bloody calm, Petal?' he exclaimed in disbelief.

'Because, getting worked up doesn't change anything. It just means that you'll act rashly and get someone hurt.'

'As long as it's not Remus that's getting hurt I don't really care' Sirius mumbled.

'Oh stop being so huffy Sirius, there's nothing you can do'

'I can skip my next class so that he doesn't have to be alone when he goes to or leaves Ancient Runes.'

'Firstly, Remus wouldn't let you skip Care of Magical Creatures – it's your best subject. Secondly, he's _not _alone. I'm with him, or have you miraculously forgotten that fact?'

'No, but you're too nice Lily. You don't know bad enough spells for anyone who messes with him.'

'Like making people bleed from their eyes?' she asked harshly and Sirius felt a small lump rise in his throat as he remembered the incident the previous year.

'I could do worse' Sirius stated, hoping it would shut her up but it didn't. If anything, she looked even angrier than before.

'You know, you're lucky Remus can't hear you right now. If he heard you speaking like that he'd be far from happy with you.'

'I never said that I _would _do worse, I said I _could_.'

'I don't doubt you _would _do it though, Sirius. I think if it came down to it you'd willingly curse people bad enough to have them go to St Mungo's.'

'Well aren't you a clever flower,' he retorted cruelly and instantly felt guilty when he saw the hurt look in her eyes.

'Don't do this Sirius; don't treat people badly to cover up your emotions.'

'You been reading the Remus Lupin guide to guilt tripping?' he asked huffily and he instantly felt her green eyes piercing into him warningly.

'Don't go doing anything stupid Sirius; he won't forgive you a second time for losing control.'

'I _know _that, okay. But when _you_ keep telling me to calm down it just makes me more irritable and more likely to do something stupid and _trust me_ I have no intentions of doing anything stupid. I just want to make sure no one does anything to him, okay?'

'Fine but, just so you know, he's watching you. He can tell you're getting restless and you're just making him panicky. It's not fair on Remus; he's worried enough as it is and you're only making it worse for him because now he'll be getting worried about _you _losing your common sense and getting into getting into fights for him.'

'Whatever,' he mumbled, but he and Lily both knew that her words had stuck because he made an effort to be less fidgety and even shot Remus small smiles of encouragement from across the room. However his efforts to be less obviously on edge didn't last long. It was barely five minutes until the end of class when Sirius' and Lily's cauldron had begun bubbling uncontrollably and foaming.

'WHAT THE HELL?' Sirius snapped unhappily, his and Lily's potions were _never _wrong. Lily had a ridiculously good talent for potion making and he knew instantly that something was wrong. Lily couldn't possibly have made a mistake that would cause _this _to happen. Before he even had enough time to properly figure out what was wrong with the potion it started oozing over the edge of the cauldron before practically exploding, showering both him and Lily with the strange orange liquid and causing both of them to shout out in both horror and pain as it left burn marks on both sets of arms.

'Miss Evans, Mr Black. What on earth is going on?' Slughorn's voice boomed as the potions teacher rushed towards them.

'I-I don't know.' Lily gasped, looking close to tears. 'I don't understand what happened; the Potion was fine before-'

'I have first years in here after this class.' Slughorn told them looking far from happy and suddenly the bell rang, signalling the end of class. 'I need you both to stay here and clean this mess up before they get here, then I want you both to go straight to the Hospital Wing and get those burns looked at.'

'But Professor-' he began.

'-No excuses, Black' the Professor warned him. 'Now the quicker you get started, the quicker you can leave.'

The rest of the class had packed up their things now and the classroom was beginning to empty as the other students departed, heading straight for their next class. Remus soon made his way over to them and stopped beside them looking slightly hesitant, worry etched clearly upon his pale face.

'I'll explain why you're late' Remus told Lily quietly but the redhead was looking up at him fearfully as if finally solving the last part of a complicated puzzle.

'It wasn't me, was it? I didn't make any mistake. This was deliberate; we've been separated from you' Lily gasped looking horrified.

'Someone tampered with the potion,' Sirius said darkly, feeling incredibly angry.

'But how? No one came anywhere near our potion?' Lily hissed.

'I don't bloody well know Lily' Sirius snapped in frustration before looking Remus straight in the eyes. The rest of the class had departed now and Slughorn was currently fiddling around with items on his desk, apparently looking for something.

'Remus,' Sirius stressed as he looked at the scared young man before him. 'James will be outside the class. He'll be waiting to walk me to Care of Magical Creatures. Explain what's happened and get him to walk you up to Ancient Runes.'

'Siri-'

'-Promise me Remy. Promise me you won't go alone' he whispered fearfully, now holding tightly onto his boyfriend's scarred wrist.

'I-I promise,' Remus replied shakily and Sirius immediately pulled the smaller youth into his arms for a quick hug.

'Be carefully Remy, and tell James not to leave you until you're in that bloody class or I'll hex his balls off' he gave a weak chuckle and Remus rolled his eyes in return. Both of them knew that each was just as nervous as the other right now but their forced jokey behaviour was the only thing stopping them freaking out completely.

'I better get going,' Remus mumbled and Sirius gave a quick nod of the head, still feeling incredibly anxious but deciding there was nothing he could do.

'I'll see you in Ancient Runes' Lily added in lightly, trying to ease the tension and Remus gave a small, unsure smile before leaving the room.

'When I find out who fucked with our potion I'm going to hex them into next week' Sirius growled angrily as the pale young man left his sight. He now felt incredibly anxious and wanted nothing more than to just run after Remus...but he knew he couldn't really do that, not with out explaining his reasons and he knew they couldn't go into details with Slughorn of all people.

'Count me in' Lily added angrily and Sirius was surprised to see a fiercely protective look in Lily's eyes.

'You'd have to find whatever pieces of them are left once I'm done with them.' Sirius remarked darkly and her eyes changed instantly to contain worry as she took in his words.

They were a good ten minutes into the lesson when they had finished cleaning up the mess their potion had caused. The first years, of course, had found it incredibly amusing to see the Head Girl and her Potions partner covered in burn marks and attempting to clean up their disastrous looking potion. They had managed to clean it up, mostly, but the floor of the area where they had worked had an orange coloured tinge to it that they had been unable to remove.

'I hope that in the future, you will be more careful when brewing potions.' Professor Slughorn told them while the first years giggled on at the state of the two seventh years. 'Now, off to the Hospital Wing and get those burns treated.' He instructed and Sirius gave a curt nod and hurried out the class with Lily close behind.

'I think I'm gonna head straight to class' Sirius told her quietly as they left the room. 'I'd rather just get straight to class and check with James that everything went okay with Remus'

'Don't be ridiculous, the last thing you need is to leave those burns until lunch. You'll scar.' She replied, tugging his arm and forcing him to walk with her towards the Hospital Wing.

'Whoever did this is going to get a serious hexing' he huffed and upon seeing a small smile tugging at her lips he realised her amusement and rolled his eyes at the green eyed witch. 'I didn't mean it as a pun on my name' he told her dryly finding the situation to be rather ridiculous.

'I never said you did' she smiled at him.

'No but you clearly thought it in your head, I saw you trying not to laugh' he accused huffily and this time it was her turn to roll her eyes at him. 'I swear though, if my Remy has so much as a scratch on him then there's going to be a bloodbath like this school has never seen.' he warned her.

'_Your _Remy' she smiled in amusement and Sirius just made a huffy noise, there really wasn't anything worth saying in reply to that...

'Madame Pomfrey,' Sirius called as they reached the Hospital Wing. 'Madame Pomfrey, we got told to come here and get our burns-' but he never managed to finish his sentence because curtains had been torn back rapidly from one of the many beds and Sirius had suddenly found his boyfriend in his arms, tears running down his pale face and clinging onto him desperately. He then realised, unhappily, that Remus had a rather sore looking slash running down his cheek and onto his neck.

'Remus! What happened? I knew something was going to happen, I swear I'm going to fucking kill those-'

'-Mr Lupin you should be in bed' came the voice of Madame Pomfrey who was now looking at them disapprovingly, having just appeared from the curtains surrounding the bed next to the one Remus had been occupying. 'Mr Lupin shouldn't have guests right now, off to class the both of you' she added to Sirius and Lily.

'We were told to come here,' Lily supplied quickly, holding out her burned arm as proof.

'I see, well you're going to have to wait for a little while. I'm still seeing to Mr Potter for now, and then I'll be treating Mr Lupin. So you two aren't my highest priorities right now. Take a seat and stay quiet, this is a Hospital Wing not a social spot'

'What's wrong with James?' Sirius asked; feeling his worry spike up further at her words.

'I'm sure Mr Lupin can fill you in on what has happened.' She replied before disappearing behind the curtains once more and Sirius would have found it amusing any other time that she didn't seem to mind Remus speaking. She seemed to have a soft spot for her regular pale-faced visitor.

'I want to see him,' Sirius stated plainly, making sure he was loud enough to be heard.

'You can see him later on once he's rested,' she replied from behind the curtains.

'I want to see him now'

'I'm allowing you to talk to Mr Lupin, be grateful I haven't told you to leave and return later. Sirius immediately made a resigned noise, feeling incredibly frustrated and wanting to check on his best friend.

'The burns look sore,' the pale young man commented from beside him.

'Doesn't matter, what happened after you left?' he asked.

'You were right, it was all a set up' Remus mumbled as Sirius pulled up a chair beside Remus' bed and nodded at the bed pointedly. The pale young man climbed into the covers and Sirius pulled the covers up automatically to cover his boyfriend who merely rolled his eyes at this behaviour.

'Who was it?' Sirius asked firmly, making sure to keep his voice low so that Madame Pomfrey couldn't hear their discussion. The others caught on immediately and all voices were lowered to keep their conversation private.

'James got hurt because-'

'-Who was it, Remus?' he asked again, knowing that the scarred young man was trying to avoid answering the question.

'Well there was a group of them...'

'And who was in the group?'

'I didn't know them all...mostly sixth years...'

'Mostly? Who were the others then? Seventh years?' he felt instantly sickened by the idea that people in _their _year, people who they had shared classes with all these years could have been involved in the day's events.

'Like I said, it was mostly sixth years except...except Snape-'

'-Snape!' Lily hissed, her eyes widening disbelievingly.

'I knew that git was bound to be a bloody death eater' Sirius growled protectively, holding onto Remus' hand tightly.

'And...and Regulus' Remus admitted and Sirius felt him stomach tighten uncomfortably. 'They were waiting at the top of the stairs on the seventh floor. Obviously they weren't expecting James to be there as well but, even then, there were seven of them and two of us...'

'Cowardly bastards' Sirius spat angrily, he couldn't imagine how terrified Remus must have been, knowing that they were all waiting there for _him_. 'I swear I'll hex then so badly they won't be-'

'-No Sirius! You can't...Regulus was involved' Remus stressed and Sirius groaned in realisation. He couldn't do _anything _to get revenge for Remus otherwise Regulus could just reveal his boyfriend's lycanthropy to the whole school.

'I can't believe this...there's really nothing I can do' he whispered, feeling utterly useless.

'You could...you could hold me?' Remus mumbled; his cheeks were now burning as a blush reached his usually pale face and his eyes were looking downwards with embarrassment at his request. Sirius didn't have to be told twice and immediately climbed atop the bed as Remus shifted to make room for him. He wrapped his arms tightly around Remus and felt the smaller youth curl up in his embrace. Instantly Sirius felt the need to smack himself over the head for his stupidity, this should have been the first thing he had done. He should have sat with Remus in his arms from the start.

'What happened?' he asked quietly into Remus' hair.

'They asked me for an answer, said they had been instructed to get an answer from me today...James told them that the answer was no and that it should have been obvious even to Slytherin scum like them' Remus gave a small chuckle but Lily's eyes were now wide and disbelieving.

'So it was seven against two and James thought the best way to go about things was to insult them?' she asked looking as if she severely wanted to hit James at that moment.

'They were going to do whatever they were going to do either way. James was probably just trying to make it clear to them that none of us _would _ever want to be involved in the hope that they won't try asking again at some other point' Sirius pointed out before sighing.

'So we started firing spells at each other. I got hit a few times but nothing too severe.'

'And James?' Sirius asked nervously.

'James only got hit once but...it was _really _bad.' Remus whispered as he began curling even further into Sirius' embrace as he explained what had happened. 'It wasn't a spell I'd ever heard of.'

'Reg? Cus he would know lots of dodgy spells you wouldn't' Sirius told him quietly but Remus shook his head in return.

'No, it was Snape that cast it...there was blood everywhere and James went unconscious _really _quickly.'

'Oh my...' Lily gasped looking horrified. She had paled considerably at Remus' words and Sirius too felt his stomach knot uncomfortably at the idea of his best friend being hurt like that. He immediately began rubbing comforting circles on his boyfriend's back, encouraging him to continue.

'I tried to fight them off alone. I don't think I would have lasted very long, but then Professor Dumbledore appeared out of nowhere and they all ran off, Dumbledore was too busy trying to fix James to stop them. It even took _Dumbledore_ a while to make the bleeding stop.'

'So he brought you two here then?'

'Yes...he said that he would come back soon and that he had something important to discuss with us.' Remus said quietly. Sirius let his mind take in all this new information, his mind now working overtime to keep up.

'Right, so James is still unconscious?' He asked quietly, trying not to think of the uncomfortable lump in his throat. He momentarily wished that Snape really had died _that night. _But brushed the thoughts away instantly knowing how hurt Remus would be to know he had thought such a thing.

'Yes, Dumbledore stopped the bleeding but Madame Pomfrey was having problems with healing him up for a while...I think she's just trying to avoid any scarring now...' The light haired youth trailed off awkwardly, Sirius figured the mention of scarring was probably what had caused it and held Remus even tighter. Remus always had been self-conscious about his scars and the idea of his friend possibly having them now seemed to have freaked him out a little.

'Scars aren't important, as long as he's okay it's fine' Sirius encouraged, placing a small kiss in his boyfriend's hair and he felt Remus relax slightly after his actions. It wasn't until he looked up that he realised how incredibly quiet Lily had been since the mention of Snape. 'You okay Petal?' he asked quietly and she raised her eyes to meet his looking worried.

'The spell...its Snape's, he made it up' she told them quietly.

'The one he used on James?' Remus asked looking surprised and she nodded in response.

'He's made up loads of spells since he came to Hogwarts; in fact, I think he knew some darker magic before we even started here'

'Up to his eyes in dark magic before he'd even came to Hogwarts,' Sirius snorted feeling his dislike for the Slytherin having increased now that his best friend had been harmed. 'Why am I not even surprised? The greasy git'

'Sirius, I may not be friends with him anymore but I was once. Please respect that and don't make nasty comments.' The redhead said shortly and Sirius only felt his irritation with the day's events grow.

'After what he did to James-' he began angrily.

'-_You _nearly _killed_ Snape last year, Sirius. So don't try to act like you have the moral high ground here.' She hissed defensively.

'Enough. Stop now or you'll both end up saying things you'll regret.' Remus interjected quickly.

'I don't think she could be more of a bitch than to bring up _that_ _incident._' Sirius replied bitterly.

'I'm going for a walk. Tell Madame Pomfrey I'll be back soon' Lily said tensely before leaving them alone in a strange silence.

'Should I go talk to her?' Sirius sighed, feeling unsure but thinking it was probably what he should do.

'No, leave her alone for a while. I know she isn't friends with Snape anymore but I'm sure it still hurts her to know he's involved with these...things' Remus said quietly and Sirius gave a small nod, shifting his position slightly so that both he and Remus were now lying down and draping an arm over Remus once more...

Sirius and Lily had been allowed to remain in the Hospital Wing at the request of Professor Dumbledore and after the day's classes had ended Pete had received permission to join them as well. The rest of the day had been quite uneventful, with exceptions of when James had finally awakened and the several times that Sirius had been told off by Madame Pomfrey for sitting on Remus' bed.

In fact, Professor Dumbledore's arrival was the sole reason they hadn't all dozed off in boredom. When the wise wizard had finally arrived he had chosen to sit at James' bedside and beckoned the others over, asking Madame Pomfrey to make sure no one interrupted them and checking that there were no other people currently in the Hospital Wing.

In all honesty, by the time Professor Dumbledore had left Sirius found that his head was bursting with all the information it had just received. Dumbledore had informed them that he was fairly sure about why the duel had broken out earlier and they had confirmed the wizard's suspicions. The wizard had then gone on to explain that he was gathering people to form a secret group to try and prevent Lord Voldemort from rising to full power. This group was to be called the Order of the Phoenix and Sirius had been thoroughly shocked that Dumbledore had actually asked _them _to join. He had instructed them that he had no intentions of taking them out of school or having them join quite yet but had told them that there would be places waiting for them after they left school if they wished join.

Of course, asking a group of Gryffindor's whether or not they wanted to help in the fight against evil resulted in a rather obvious answer. It felt strange to think that they would be joining this _Order, _but Sirius quite liked the idea. He wanted to help, wanted to make a difference instead of simply standing by and doing nothing. The only thing that made him slightly hesitant was that Dumbledore had been quite clear about what risks would accompany joining this group.

They would be risking their lives continuously to try and prevent Voldemort's rise to power and Sirius had to admit it was a scary idea; his friends could quite easily be hurt, tortured or even killed. It was an outcome that Sirius knew he would try to forget about as a possibility; he would push it to the back of his mind and hope for the best.

However, there was one thing that Sirius was definitely _not _happy about and that was the way in which Dumbledore had looked at Remus several times as if debating an idea in his head. He had looked at Remus as if he was merely some sort of object that could be of great use to him, instead of thinking of him as a person and that made Sirius incredibly uncomfortable. What Dumbledore was planning on using Remus for Sirius wasn't entirely sure, but, he knew that he was definitely _not _going to just stand by and do nothing if he thought that Remus was being _used _in any way.

There was no way that Sirius was going to shut up and remain silent if he thought Remus was going to treated like a chess piece, with no thought other than to complete a goal. No, definitely not. _No one _was going to put _his _Remy in danger without a hell of a good reason, not while he was around anyway.

**Sorry for taking so long to update, I've been feeling quite poorly for the last few days...still am actually :( not very fun! Especially when I have an exam to revise for. I wil get around to replying to chapter 71's reviews as soon as possible, sorry for the delay... **

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**ClatuVrata**

**GiggleNo9**

**Xharrypotterismylifex**

**Ministryofchaos**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	73. Chapter 73 Marauders Come First

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Good Morning!' Sirius called out in a sing-song voice as he pulled back the red hangings from James' bed and bounded onto the four-poster to wake up his best friend.

'It was, until _you _decided to ruin my chances of sleep.'

'Aww, but Prongs surely you'd _much _rather spend some time with _me_ than with your bed' Sirius pouted before giving his friend's covers a small tug.

'Bugger off, Padfoot...I'd actually like some time in my bed, some of us enjoy a good sleep when they _finally _don't have any bloody duties to do'

'Fine' Sirius mock huffed before pulling the covers back completely and lying down next to his friend, placing the covers over them both and then giving a distinctly fake yawn.

'What _are _you doing Pads' the messy haired youth asked with an unimpressed sigh.

'Well, if you don't want to leave bed then I just have to join you here' he stated as he lay his head down on the pillow and then stretched out exaggeratedly, making sure to smack James as he did.

'You're a right git, you know that?' James complained, turning onto his side to give Sirius an unhappy look. 'I'm not going to get any sleep with you here, am I?'

'No probably not,' Sirius grinned. 'Unless of course you want us both to go to sleep, but I gotta admit I kick in my sleep'

'No Pads, you only kick when you're _pretending _to sleep' the other corrected with a laugh. 'Where are the others?'

'Library, I think, well except Lily. She's in the Common Room helping first years with their homework, far too nice for her own good, that girl.'

'So you didn't go away with the others because...'

'Because...I knew how much you would want to be awakened by a dark haired sex God' Sirius laughed, winking mockingly at his best friend.

'So where is this dark haired sex God?' James asked, pretending not to have understood Sirius' reference to himself.

'Harsh Prongs' he huffed, sticking his tongue out at the other youth.

'Don't stick your tongue out, someone might hex it off'

'Ponce'

'I'm not a bloody ponce! James whined half-heartedly, clearly too tired still to actually complain properly. 'So...Moony is with Wormtail then?'

'Yup,'

'And you're not freaking out and getting over-paranoid about Moony not having you with him?'

'A little bit' he admitted. 'But Lily said that if I didn't let him do anything on his own then I'd be stealing his independence and I'd be letting those gits win by letting them know they scared us'

'And you actually listened to her?' his friend gaped looking surprised.

'Lily tends to be right about these things' he sighed. 'Plus, he doesn't want me to be his bodyguard. He just wants to have some time alone and if I can't give him that at Hogwarts then there's nowhere I can give him time alone.'

'You seem surprisingly calm about this...and a little bit rehearsed.'

'Yeah well, I have to keep telling myself these things over and over in order to avoid running straight after him now' he admitted weakly.

'Yeah, I suppose you're not _really _the type who can sit around doing nothing.' His friend sighed. 'You tend not to think before running off to do things or protect people'

'Maybe'

'There's no doubt about it Pads, that kind of behaviour's gonna get you killed one day' James laughed, but his voice had a slight edge to it and Sirius found himself feeling slightly guilty.

'You have no idea how many times I've looked at that damn map in the last hour just to make sure he's alright.'

'You went a whole hour without waking me up? I'm impressed' James teased looking quite amused and apparently having no response to Sirius' paranoia.

'I do have _some _self restraint' he laughed.

'Was Wormtail still with him last time you checked the map?' James asked concernedly. 'Or is he off on his own again?'

'Yeah he's with him, Remus wanted to spend some time alone with him. He thinks that Pete's distancing himself from us...' Sirius sighed, dropping the use of nicknames completely now.

'Do you think he is?' James asked, sitting up now and pulling his glasses on.

'Nah, well maybe, but I think he just feels awkward, you know? The four of us are never alone these days cus Lily's always here. You've got a lot of Head Boy duties too, and he's always kinda followed you about so...maybe he's just trying to adjust?'

'I suppose...' but Sirius got the feeling that his best friend had came to his own conclusion.

'What do _you _think?' he asked, watching as his best friend's hazel eyes drew level with his own.

'I think...I think Pete's feeling left out, you know? Cus me and Lily are out a lot now with all our different duties, and then I have Quidditch practices as well.'

'Lily and I' Sirius corrected with a smirk and James swatted him playfully for his comment.

'Well, when Lily and I are out places, you and Remus have a chance to get some time alone and I think...I think that Pete probably feels like he'd be getting in the way if he hung around, you know?'

'I don't _want _to make him feel that way' Sirius protested.

'I know, but, I think he'll feel that way regardless of what you do.'

'You're probably right,' he found himself admitting worriedly. 'But I never set out to make him feel that way'

'I know, mate. We just gotta make him realise that we still want him around.' James said firmly.

'Yeah, we're Marauders, and Marauders come first, no matter what' he whispered, looking down at his hand and remembering the invisible circle that would forever be etched into the four Marauders' hands.

'No matter what,' James agreed firmly. 'We need to do something to prove ourselves, prove that we're still his best friends.'

'Yeah...but what?'

'No idea, mate' James admitted weakly as he ran a hand through his hair worriedly, causing it to look messier than before.

'We'll think of something...' Sirius sighed and climbed off of the comfy bed, stretching his hand out to his best friend.

'Do I have to get up?' James asked half-heartedly.

'Yes, otherwise I'll jinx a first year to make them bark like a dog all day and tell Lily it was you who jinxed the poor midget.'

'Child Sirius, not midget' his best friend grinned.

'No, you're just too whipped to call them midgets' Sirius laughed, expertly dodging an incoming pillow that had been aimed at his face.

'I am _not _whipped!' James exclaimed.

'Yes, you are, and the worst part is, you're not even going out with Lily yet and she has you whipped' He soon found himself being tackled to the ground and quickly engaged in a friendly roll about with his best friend.

'I got you out of bed!' Sirius smirked triumphantly before flipping them over and pinning the other young man to the ground. He kept them like that for a few seconds just to prove he could before letting the other young man go.

'Git'

'Ponce'

'Breakfast?'

'Deal...kitchens?'

'Deal'

When they did eventually finish getting ready and make their way to the Kitchens they had made a slight detour and decided to pick up the remaining Marauders from the library so the four of them could have some time alone.

As expected, Peter had seemed exceptionally happy about this and had been looking far less down than usual. But Sirius couldn't help but notice the slightly guilty expression in the small young man's watery eyes. Sirius supposed that his friend was most likely feeling guilty for making them leave Lily out but he didn't mind. He liked Lily well enough but if Sirius was anything it was loyal and he wasn't going to betray his loyalty to Peter in favour of Lily. He saw no reason, whatsoever, that he couldn't have both of them...even if he had to leave one or the other sometimes to keep them happy.

'Guys what can I do?' James sighed loudly and Sirius looked up just in time to see James bite at a spoonful of ice cream. After all, the Marauders weren't limited to what they could have for breakfast now. They were in the Kitchens and the House Elves were more than happy to give them whatever junk they wanted for _breakfast_.

'You do realise that ice cream doesn't need to be attacked right?' Sirius grinned, his laugh sounding considerably bark-like.

'But what can I do?' the other asked again looking quite helpless.

'About what exactly? Life in general or just your hair?' he teased the bespectacled young man sitting across from him.

'About Lily!'

'Ah...' Remus began awkwardly, his hand gesturing slightly, crumbs flinging from his chocolate cake as he did so. 'I suppose you want to concoct some elaborate plan to win her over then?'

'Yes!'

'Bad idea' Sirius interjected. 'She's not the type to get all googly eyed over some big display, it'll only make her feel embarrassed and on show'

'Since when did you become the expert on all things Lily?' James huffed and Sirius only waggled his eyebrows suggestively. 'Sirius!"'

'It's a joke, mate' Sirius replied with an eye roll. 'I've got Remy, so why would I want the walking opinion generator that is Lily Evans?'

'Hey! Take that back, Lily's wonderful'

'Mate I have no problem with Lily, I just don't likeher in _that _way.'

'I would certainly hope not' Remus laughed and Sirius only grinned at the pale young man in response.

'Course not Remy, you're the only guy for me' he called out dramatically earning an eye roll all of his own.

'It's all in the detail Remus, he said you're the only _guy _for him, not the only _person_. He's going to run off with my Lily-flower!' James declared theatrically.

'Oh well, I'm sure I can get over it' Remus laughed, taking another bite of cake as if to prove how little he cared and Sirius pouted unhappily.'

'Cruel Remy, cruel'

'Well you can't expect him to mope around forever for you, mate' James laughed before adding in a stage whisper; 'Maybe we can form a relationship in your absence'

Gasping loudly in a highly dramatic fashion Sirius jumped to his feet and threw himself forwards towards Remus, arms wrapping around the scarred young man as soon as he was near enough to do so.

'My Remy, you can't have him' Sirius huffed immaturely and stuck out his tongue in a childlike manner.

'So I can keep Lily?' he grinned.

'No, I'm going to have them both and we're going to-'

'-Don't even go there Sirius!' James warned huffily.

'-have our cake' Sirius finished, feigning innocence and taking a slice of cake himself just to authenticate his point.

'Yes, and eat it' Peter added in jokingly and James shot a look of mock offence, clearly glad that the smallest Marauder had got involved in their fun.

'What do _you _think I should do to impress Lily?' James asked the chubby young man.

'I don't know, but I agree with Sirius...something less obvious...away from other people' the Marauder replied.

'Yes, you need to prove that you're serious about her' Remus nodded in agreement.

Suddenly Sirius found an idea forming in his head, a rather fun idea...but James would have to remain clueless for Lily to not think James had set it up...

'You know I always felt quite worried when I see that look in your eyes Sirius' James laughed. 'So you got a plan?'

'Me?' Sirius asked, pretending to be clueless. 'No idea mate, this problem is entirely for you to fix.'

'Sirius Orion Black, I know when you're up to something' James accused.

'No idea what you're talking about, mate' Sirius shrugged half-heartedly. 'Fancy a wander? I'm bored'

'Don't try to distract me'

'Is it working?'

'Maybe...'

'Well then, just admit defeat James. I'm not telling you so you'll just have to wait and see.'

'Ugh! Fine, where d'you fancy going?'

'Forbidden Forrest, Sirius fancy's spending some time with Padfoot' Sirius joked.

'You shouldn't refer to yourself in the third person, mate. Especially not twice...people might think you're a little bit crazy in the head.

'Maybe, but I've got you as a best friend. So people are bound to think that anyway,' he quipped, quickly receiving a smack over the head and watching as Remus and Peter wrapped some of the remaining chocolate cake up to take with them...

'Okay...we're far enough in now, you can change' Remus smiled once they were quite deep into the Forbidden Forrest, looking far calmer than he had in a fair while. Sirius then proceeded to change into his large black form, giving a small bark of happiness once he had finished the transformation.

He quickly rushed around the group, licking each of his friends' hands affectionately before returning to the front of the group and padding along happily. As expected it wasn't long before James decided to change as well, transforming into a large stag and Sirius was surprised to see that James' stag form had grown _a lot _over the summer.

'Are you not transforming as well?' Remus asked the chubby Marauder.

'No, I can't really keep up anyway. Plus you'd be awfully bored with no one to talk to.'

'It will nice to actually have some _normal _conversation for change' Remus joked, making sure that the two animagus' in front of him had heard clearly.

'I know it is nice to not have to listen to a constant babble of noise from those two' Pete joined in with the joking and Padfoot whimpered loudly in pretend hurt.

'Oh stop being such a dramatist' the scarred young man laughed. 'He's right; with you being a dog we finally get some peace and quiet'

Padfoot howled loudly in protest in order to disturb the two Marauders' _peace and quiet_ as they had put it. But, his howl was quickly silenced when he was knocked playfully by the stag's prongs and he fell down onto his side.

He gave a loud whimper and got to his feet, doubling back to walk at Remus' heel and he could see amusement prancing in Prongs' eyes as he did so.

'All we need now is to get Padfoot a lead' Pete joked and he was quickly cut off by a playful growl and a tug at his clothes at Padfoot nibbled playfully on the chubby young man's trouser leg.

'Bad dog' Remus scolded and swatted him jokingly over the head.

'Can you imagine how much trouble we'd get in if McGonagall knew about our trips into the Forbidden Forrest,' Pete whispered looking half excited and half terrified as he spoke.

'Never mind McGonagall, could you imagine what _Lily _would do to James if she knew he was out playing in the Forbidden Forrest? After all he _is _Head Boy; he should be setting a good example for all the younger students.' The stag stopped and turned to face them, fixing them with a glare of its own and causing the two Marauders to laugh hysterically. Even Padfoot gave a few barks to show his amusement.

In an instant James was standing where the stag had previously been looking quite huffy, his eyes still holding that unhappy glare and the Marauders seemed to find it even funnier than before, now laughing so loudly that it wouldn't have been surprising if it had scared off animals in the forrest...or attracted them to the four Marauders.

'Do you _really _think she'd be mad at me?' James asked sadly, looking quite disappointed in himself.

'James, we were only teasing. Lily can be a little...temperamental at times, but you shouldn't change yourself for _anyone_.' Remus sighed, his hand pushing his fringe out of his face to get a better look at his friend.

'Easy to say when you've already got the person you want' James retorted unhappily.

'I'm not saying it's easy, James. I'm just saying that you have to have a little faith, she'll come around eventually.'

'You really think so?' James asked, looking desperately hopeful and Padfoot felt the need to cheer up his friend. He bounded forward playfully and licked the young man's hand.

'I really do James...I think...I think she just doesn't know how to go about letting you know that she's willing to try things with you now.'

'What about you, Pads?' the bespectacled youth asked, crouching down to the animagus' level a scratching behind the dog's ear. He curled his head into James' chest before licking his friend's chin and watched in amusement as his best friend wiped the dog slobber from his face looking half disgusted and half amused.

'You know you have a rather affectionate disposition as a dog' Remus chuckled, coming up behind him and patting him slightly on the head and he could do little more than give a small bark of agreement.

'You know I think you should make the change permanent' James joked. 'Maybe you'd finally be able to show the students of Hogwarts that Sirius Black has a nice side to him after all'

He gave a small growl to show that he had no intentions of faking niceness with the rest of the student population and continued on his walk, slightly ahead of the group once more but this time James didn't transform with him.

'Remus' he heard his best friend whisper to the scarred young man. 'Whatever he's planning to help me get with Lily...make sure it's nothing that will get me hexed by her' if Sirius didn't know better he would have assumed his best friend had no faith in him. However he was fairly certain that he knew his friends well enough to play them against each other in order to get James and Lily together once and for all.

**Sorry the chapter wasn't as long as recent ones...but I'm still feeling ill =( I should probably go see a doctor by now haha, but I don't like going :P**

**Also wanna say I'm sorry for taking so long to write it as well, busy week plus I've been ill so I didn't really feel like writing much =(**

**Another thing I would like to sat is a BIG thank you to everyone who voted in my poll so far =) I've had 30 people vote and 28 have said they'd like this story to be told from Remus' point of view. So I'm going to get working on that sometime soon =) hoping to get the first chapter up fairly soon to see how it does!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**GiggleNo9**

**ShioriShiro**

**ClatuVrata**

**Kombinant**

**Siredna**

**freakyprincess-87**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	74. Chapter 74 Cuddles, Quests and Lake Dips

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

It wasn't until sunlight started to float in through the tightly closed hangings around his boyfriend's bed that Sirius began to awaken. He had slept in longer than usual, he could tell from the fact that his surroundings were distinctly brighter than he was used to waking up in. Thinking of the previous day he realised that this was most likely due to the fact that he hadn't returned to the dorms until the early hours of the morning. Oh, how Lily would screech is she knew of his Head Boy best friend's late night wanderings.

Turning over onto his side, Sirius found himself face to face with one Remus Lupin who was looking slightly paler than usual, a telltale sign that the full moon was less than a week away. The pale young man's breathing was steady and relaxed which would most likely have left most people assuming that he was fast asleep. That is, anyone except Sirius Black, of course. Sirius could tell that Remus was perfectly awake due to his breathing being slightly lighter than it usually was when he was asleep. That and the fact that he didn't currently have that small crinkle between eyebrows that he usually adopted whilst asleep. He supposed he couldn't blame Remus really, staying in bed meant that he wouldn't awaken the other Marauders which gave him a small space of time, in which he could simply enjoy the peace and quiet that their dormitory so rarely possessed.

Smiling at the scarred young man before him, he reached out a hand and slowly drew a love heart on his boyfriend's chest with his index finger, waiting for some kind of response from the young man. Remus proved that he was indeed awake, a small smile gracing the young man's features and Sirius could feel Remus' chuckle vibrate through his chest more than he could actually hear it.

'Are you feeling particularly soppy this morning?' Remus enquired, managing to raise an eyebrow in question without even opening his eyes and Sirius couldn't help but smile affectionately at the young man in front of him.

'Maybe,' he murmured in return before nuzzling happily into his boyfriend's neck and inhaling that wonderful scent that was entirely Remus' own. He could feel those familiar, scarred fingers threading through his hair lovingly and he felt truly content as he felt Remus' lips press into hair, kissing his head softly.

'You really are quite adorable when you're like this, Sirius' Remus' tone was soft and teasing and Sirius made a small noise, that only really half resembled a huff, to show that he wasn't overly enthusiastic as being referred to as _adorable_.

'Now now Remy, there are _far _more appropriate words that one could use to describe me. For example; sexy, charming-'

'-adorable will do just fine' came the paler youth's interruption and Sirius could feel the soft vibrations again, proving that Remus was chuckling once more.

'I'm sure I could change your mind on that' Sirius grinned but found himself unwilling to do so. He was feeling far too lazy and comfortable to actually bother moving so, instead, he opted to kiss his boyfriend tentatively before pulling back to simply watch his the scarred young man feeling quite content.

'So, what are the plans for today? I do believe that Lily and James have very little to do today, you know. We can spend most of the day with them...and Peter too of course, so, I suppose you have some form of idea.' Suddenly he remembered everything clearly and sat upright, a grin spreading across his face wildly.

'That I do Remus, that I do.'

'Oh Merlin, why do I have the feeling that I don't _want _to know what _ridiculous _plot is currently forming in your head'

'Oh but Remy, this isn't just forming _now_. No, I began forming this idea yesterday!' he explained enthusiastically.

'Oh, this is to do with helping James with Lily' Remus smiled, clearly remembering the previous day's conversations.

'Yes, and I have a foolproof plan!'

'I'm sure your plan will be completely foolproof' Remus replied sarcastically, clearly resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

'You just wait and see Remus; when we are in the midst of watching James and Lily tie the knot, so to speak, I will remind you that _you _didn't believe in my matchmaking skills'

'I have no doubt that they will get together and most likely marry, I just don't think that _you _will be the reason that they do'

'And that is why James' firstborn will be named after _me _and not _you_' he huffed, feeling rather unhappy that his boyfriend didn't believe his plan would work.

'There is no way that Lily would _ever_ name her child after you' Remus smiled in amusement and Sirius pouted unhappily in return. 'Aww Siri, did I hurt your feelings?' Remus teased lightly.

'Yes, I'm afraid so Remy, you'll just have to kiss me better' Sirius sighed dramatically and immediately felt his heart soar that little bit higher when he heard Remus' carefree laugh, it felt so good to hear him sound so genuinely happy and worriless for the first time in what seemed like forever now.

'Well, if I must' his boyfriend teased and before Sirius could reply he felt the pale young man's lips slip over his own. He smiled against the other's lips and pulled him closer, feeling that familiar excitement rush through him. It was quite remarkable, in Sirius' opinion, that after their two years together his excitement over Remus hadn't lessened in the slightest. He wasn't entirely what it was exactly, but something about the scarred young man just thrilled him to no end.

'You know, I could lie here all day with you' Sirius smiled as they pulled apart.

'But then you would never get to carry out your _foolproof plan_, and that simply wouldn't do, would it?'

'Of course not' he agreed, nodding his head vigorously.

'That would definitely not be a good thing'

'Ah, what's a Marauder to do?' he sighed dramatically once more.

'Wake up his remaining dorm-mates?' Remus smiled knowingly.

'You know me to well' he smirked. 'After all, it's no more than we Marauders must do'

'Why, of course' Remus agreed, laying his head back down upon his pillow, his eyes fluttering closed for a short while and with one final peck on the lips Sirius jumped up to begin his morning wake up routine...

'Good morning, Petal!' Sirius cried enthusiastically as the Marauders all caught up with the redhead on her way into the Great Hall.

'Um...good morning to you too, I suppose...' Lily trailed off looking slightly confused but smiling nonetheless.

'So my dearest Petal, I was hoping for your exquisite company today out by the lakeside. What say you to my request?' Lily looked at him curiously, raising her eyebrows in question to the other Marauders for answers.

'He's feeling a tad dramatic today, I think' Remus chuckled.

'Yeah, this morning I was awoken with the cries of "James, you must awaken at once! Who knows what adventures may await you upon the horizon"' the bespectacled young man laughed, his eyes lighting up with amusement.

'Hmm, it sounds quite nice actually, Sirius' she smiled warmly and Sirius felt his grin widen further than before.

'Good good, so who dares to accompany me on my quest to find the blueberry jam?'

'You don't _like _blueberry jam, Siri' Remus chuckled, his eyes lighting up just as James' had.

'No, I don't believe I do...but the quest will be fun nonetheless' he laughed hoping that James would remember that Lily was quite a fan of blueberry jam.

'Lily does though, anything for the fair maiden' James joined in looking incredibly cheerful to have his best friend in such a good mood today.

'Comes Sir James, we shall find the blueberry jam amongst these peasants and possibly fight a dragon in order to acquire it,' Sirius declared loudly. 'After all we are gentleman are we not?'

'That we are, good sir' James agreed firmly and together they went off on a hunt for the blueberry jam.

'I really wish you would stop referring to the other students like that Sirius' Remus sighed.

'Ah, well its better than referring to them individually otherwise I could _really _insult them.' He called over some of the younger students

'I don't doubt that you could' Lily added in looking far from impressed and he bounced back over, having realised that the jam must be closer to where they were in the first place and James followed suit.

'For example, I could refer to...' he looked along the table to the nearest Gryffindor. 'Mary Macdonald as-'

'-An overly bumptious tart' James supplied for him with a grin and whilst Remus looked half tempted to tell him off, he noticed that Lily wasn't bothered in the slightest.

'I'd have to agree with you on that one' she replied calmly. 'Didn't you get up to stuff with her in fourth year though?' she asked, looking directly at Sirius.

'No! She tried to corner me once but James here saved me from her clutches' Sirius laughed. 'Huffed that all she wanted was a kiss but she was clearly up for more, like James said, she's an overly bumptious tart.'

'Well, there are quite a few people who are under the assumption that you and Mary did get up to stuff, a lot more than _just kissing_, in fact.' Lily informed him quietly. Sirius could only gape openly in horror and repressed a shudder; Mary was in no way attractive to him at all...she was one of the scariest girls he had ever met, always looking for some way to trick guys into doing things with her.

'With _her_?' he asked disbelievingly before turning to Remus quickly feeling slightly worried. 'I swear Remy, I never-'

'-I know, Siri. I did hear yours and James' giggles that night about how he'd saved you form certain doom.' Remus chuckled but he could tell that even if it was solely a rumour it still bugged his boyfriend slightly. He could tell as much with a single look Remus, he always had been good at reading the pale young man.

'Ha!' James shouted victoriously, raising his hand in triumph to show that he had found the blueberry jam before sitting down opposite Lily and offering the jam to her.

'M'lady' he smiled warmly.

'Thank you,' she smiled looking genuinely amused by his antics.

'You know, Mary was always more into James than Sirius anyway. I reckon she still fancies you James' Pete added in. Lily's eyes immediately narrowed unhappily and Sirius wanted to groan at the chubby young man's stupidity, it certainly wasn't going to speed up James and Lily's get together.

'Yes, but I doubt he'd snog her even if it was for a dare.' Sirius stated firmly. 'And trust me; we _never _turn down a good dare.' He was grinning on the inside as he thought of his plan. 'Hey, that's an idea...why don't we play truth or dare?' it was at that moment that he realised Remus had spread toast for him and he smiled happily before taking a bite and waiting for Lily's response.

'How about, I'd rather not' Lily replied looking distinctly uncomfortable.

'Only for a little while, then we can do _whatever _you want' he pleaded.

'No,'

'I'll be your best friend' he offered childishly hoping to appeal to her humorous side instead.

'Sorry, I already have Remus to fill that role' she teased him.

'Fine,' he huffed loudly and turned to look at each of the others in turn. 'You guys will play though, right?'

'I suppose so' Remus sighed.

'I'm in,' James grinned enthusiastically. 'After all, I can't shy away from a good old dare.'

'Pete?' Sirius asked, but he knew there was no real need. James was playing and that was enough to convince the chubby young man.

'Okay...' Pete gave in weakly with a small smile.

They hadn't taken long to finish the rest of their breakfast and had soon headed off to spend their Sunday beneath their favourite tree beside the lake.

'Okay, I'll go first.' James grinned. 'Remus, truth or dare'

'Truth,' Remus replied calmly.

'I'll start off easy.' The messy haired youth smiled.

'Keep it clean' Lily added warningly and the young men all laughed at her comment, they weren't likely to ask anything rude in front of Lily otherwise James would have a fit.

'Right, so...who kissed who first when you and Sirius got together?'

'Me, I kissed him first' Remus blushed slightly but went on to the next person. 'Okay then Pete, Truth or dare?'

'Um...truth'

'Would you go out with Mary Macdonald?' Sirius couldn't help but erupt into laughter at the idea of anyone being stuck with Mary Macdonald let alone poor Peter.

'Maybe' the chubby young man blushed and the three Marauders went deadly silent in horror.

'Why? What could possibly convince you to do that?' Sirius asked feeling quite disgusted.

'Well, I mean...she's not _bad_ looking.'

'No, she's just a total tart' Sirius snorted in amusement.

'Truth or dare Sirius?'

'Dare, of course'

'I dare you to...' Pete trailed off looking for something interesting to do apparently.

'Wait, what's the penalty for refusing a dare?' James interrupted with a smirk.

'You can pick James, I'm not gonna turn down a dare anyway so _I _don't care. It's sort of pointless really, when have we _ever _turned down a dare?'

'Never'

'Exactly'

'Okay then. Penalty for refusing a dare or not answering a question is that you have to strip off and...Jump in the lake!' James grinned triumphantly.

'Deal, get on with the dare Pete'

'Um...I dare you to...kiss James'

'THAT'S DISGUTING PETE!' Sirius shouted feeling outraged before adding awkwardly; 'no offence, James'

'It's just a dare' Pete replied quickly looking worried by Sirius' explosion.

'We're like brothers, it's practically incest!'

'Well, it's your choice Siri' Pete shrugged looking quite happy that he'd thought of a dare that _Sirius_ didn't want to do.

'I'm not doing it!' Sirius said firmly, ignoring the fact that it was his first time _ever _to not fulfil a dare, and began pulling off his clothes ready to fulfil the penalty for not performing his dare.

'You can't Sirius, this is ridiculous, and it's _far _too cold right now to go in there. Plus, it's _against the rules_.' Lily informed him looking worried as she glanced at the lake. Sirius wasn't surprised she was worried; in the short time since the few months since they had returned to school the temperatures had dropped a fair bit and the icy waters weren't particularly appealing compared to how they had been when he and Remus hadn't went swimming in it.

'Then look away, I'll be quick' Sirius laughed and surprisingly she just sighed and let him get on with it, shifting her eyes away awkwardly once Sirius had lost all clothing.

'I hate you Pete' Sirius whined unhappily, looking around and knowing that people, although a fair bit away, would know exactly what he was doing right now.

'Have fun,' James smirked.

'You think it's funny, James? You just wait and see what I think up, you git' he huffed loudly and made his way to the lake's edge. Deciding he may as well just get it over with he jumped straight in, shouting out in surprise when he realised just how much colder the water had became since the start of term.

'I hate you!' he shouted unhappily as his friends laughed openly at him. In one swift movement he climbed straight back out of the water, shivering uncontrollably and made his way back over to the group. Lily averted her eyes, looking rather embarrassed and Sirius couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for her, she would have got in _a lot _of trouble if the teachers had caught Sirius in the lake, as would James of course but he made up the penalty so Sirius was feeling in no way sympathetic to him.

'I can't believe you did that to me Pete' Sirius sighed unhappily.

'He just wanted to someone to face the penalty' James smirked. 'And _very _few things would be bad enough for us to say no to. I'm just glad it wasn't me that had to go into the lake.'

He began pulling his clothes onto his damp body and shuddered slightly at the unpleasantness of it before settling down on the ground next to Remus, shifting as close as humanly possible to try and steal some of his boyfriend's body heat. He wanted nothing more than to return to the dorms and cuddle up with his Remy now, he was far too cold to play about and act out his full plan now...he would simply have to change tactics.

'Okay James,' he smirked in amusement. 'I dare _you _to kiss the lovely Lily Evans'

'I'm not playing, Sirius!' she complained, her tone holding a hint of warning to it. But she needn't have worried anyway, Sirius knew that. He knew his best friend far too well to ever think James would go through with it. James may well be a bit forward at times but he wasn't going to kiss Lily without her consent.

'I'm not doing it' James said firmly and without explanation began stripping off his clothes, looking _extremely _embarrassed to be doing so in front of Lily, and made his way to plunge into the cold watery depths.

'Holy shit! It's freezing in here!' James hollered when he resurfaced and Sirius erupted into a bout of laughter. 'I can't believe you deliberately asked me a dare that you _knew _would end up with me having to do the penalty!'

'What can I say James, I'm not feeling particularly sympathetic right now. After all, I _have _been in there myself.' He called and grinned in amusement as his best friend made his way out of the water, completely naked and shivering like mad.

'I hate you' James commented, apparently too cold now to feel the embarrassment he had when he had been going in. But Lily seemed to feel enough embarrassment for the both of them, her eyes trailing over the messy haired young man momentarily before averting them and blushing furiously.

'Do we have to stay here and play or can we go inside now?' Sirius chattered, feeling his shivering get all the worse.

'I'm all for going inside.' James shivered as he pulled his clothes back on, his hands shaking as he did up his buttons.

'Okay, let's get going then' Remus chuckled, standing up and watching the two Marauders as they began walking side by side, shaking uncontrollably.

'You two are gonna end up in the hospital wing if we don't get you warmed up' Lily commented, a small smile on her graced her face as she spoke but Sirius could tell that something was distinctly off with her and he held her arm momentarily to make sure they were behind the others and hung back a little to walk by her side.

'What's wrong, Petal?' he asked quietly, making sure that none of the other were listening in.

'How...you _knew _that James was going to say no...' she trailed off slightly, a small red tinge crept into her pale cheeks and Sirius gave her a small smile.

'It's not that he didn't _want _to kiss you' Sirius assured her quickly, getting the distinct feeling that _that _might be what was upsetting her.

'Well, he seemed pretty adamant that he didn't want to' she mumbled looking awkward and Sirius put an arm out to stop her walking any further.

'The only reason he didn't kiss you is because James...' he trailed off trying to think of the right way to describe him. 'He might act all forward and whatnot but it's just a silly act, he wouldn't accept the dare because he's a Potter. Potters are generally quite...well mannered, that's probably not the best description um...'

'Shorten it to something simple' she suggested with a small smile, apparently amused by his failure of an explanation.

'Basically, he didn't accept the dare because he's too much of a gentleman, now, that might sounds ridiculous for our Jamsie but he is. He wouldn't _dream _of kissing you without your permission.' He explained before smirking slightly. 'Well, he maybe if it was an actual dream so to speak, but that's a different matter completely' Lily blushed furiously at his last comment and smacked his arm playfully.

'So...'

'He still likes you' Sirius confirmed. 'Look, I know that you're not exactly the most...forward of people when it comes to these types of things' cue more blushing on Lily's part, he thought with a small chuckle.

'Well neither are you apparently,' she huffed, clearly referring to Remus' earlier comment that he had made about being the one who made the first move and not Sirius'

'We were best friends Lily, Marauders. Plus we're both guys, it was a little hard to just take the plunge on that one' Sirius snapped slightly but she didn't seem to bother, knowing him well enough by now to know that he wasn't actually upset with her, he just felt awkward talking about it.

'I just...ugh, I can't believe I'm even telling _you _this. But, I just don't know what to do' she admitted. 'I'm not...I'm not _Mary Macdonald_' Sirius chuckled at her example and shook his head in amusement before replying.

'I'm sure James is quite happy about that, Petal. In all honesty I think she frightens him slightly...and not in a good way.'

'What I mean' she continued, clearly deciding not to laugh at his comment, however tempted she may have been. 'Is that I'm not _that _kind of person, I don't know how...I just don't know how to go about showing James that I'm interested now, I turned him down so many times that he gave up asking by the end of fifth year.'

'I know, and that's probably my fault a little for hinting that he should back off a little...' Sirius admitted awkwardly. 'But trust me he _does _like you, he's my best friend, Petal, I know him inside out.'

'I need your help' she admitted, looking quite embarrassed but determined.

'You really want my help?' he asked, arching an eyebrow in surprise at the honesty and vulnerability in her mumbled request.

'Yes,'

'Okay I want you to confirm you want my help one more time and then you're not allowed to question me or methods in the slightest.'

'Um...okay, I want your help' she said again looking slightly unsure.

'Good, now let's catch up with the others...'

_**Reached the 200,000 words mark :O wow, never expected to end up writing that much for a fanfic haha**_

**Oh I know, I'm a little cruel for leaving it off there :P but I just couldn't resist. Anyway, I'm starting to feel a bit better now so I'll get back to my regular updating amounts now I think :)**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**ClatuVrata**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**freakyprincess-87**

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**hp-scribbler**

**I'd like to say a thank you EPkiwi for reviewing the story also :)**

**And also a thanks to the anon who didn't leave a name...although you didn't have much nice to say about the story it's still a review. It **_**does**_** say in the description that the story contains slash so, sorry, but you were warned. Anyway, I don't mind too much...you still complimented the writing itself and it's another review and only makes my story more appealing to others. So, thank you :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	75. Chapter 75 The Set Up

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Remus, can I talk to you for minute?' Sirius muttered as they reached the portrait hole. The scarred young man looking surprised and, admittedly, quite confused.

'Now?' Sirius nodded to show that he did, indeed, want to talk to the pale youth. 'But Sirius, you're still soaking wet. You need to go and get dried off first.'

'It will only take a few minutes Remus, please.' Remus bit his bottom lip unsurely before eventually nodding his head in consent.

'We'll catch you guys up in a minute' Sirius said loudly as the others entered the portrait hole. Sirius suspected that James would have been suspicious normally and thanked Merlin that his best friend had been too wet and cold to care after his jump in the lake.

'So...is this a conversation we need to have somewhere private?' Remus asked, his face was showing no hints at what was going through his mind and Sirius wondered briefly why his boyfriend looked rather guarded all of a sudden.

'Not really, I just needed to make sure James didn't overhear me' This seemed to have caught Remus' interest because he looked quite shocked that Sirius was avoiding saying something in front of his best friend. His eyes then began lighting up thoughtfully, clearly trying to guess what this was about before Sirius told him, almost as if he was treating it like some sort of great puzzle.

'Lily asked me for help to-'

'-She asked _you _for help?' Remus interrupted looking surprised.

'Yes me,' he sighed in mock offence before continuing. 'She wants my help to get together with James'

'So why don't you just go tell James that Lily wants to go out with him and get him to just ask her out?'

'Because, Remus, that would be betraying Lily's trust.' He said firmly but when Remus rose a questioning eyebrow he found himself give a small laugh in defeat. 'Okay, I just want to do something a bit more fun for them.'

'I don't think Lily will appreciate it, she doesn't like big gestures' Remus reminded him calmly.

'I know that, I'm not going to go overboard. No big gestures and whatnot; I just want something nice for Lily...I want her to have a pretty little memory of them getting together rather than James bluntly asking her in the Common Room, in front of other pupils, like an idiot.'

'You're still determined to have their child named after you aren't you?' Remus teased lightly and Sirius laughed in return as he remembered their earlier conversation.

'Nope, this is entirely friendly reasons. I've actually grown quite fond of the pretty little flower'

'So what do I have to do with all this?'

'Well, I wanted to ask you if you could take the invisibility cloak from James trunk. I'll distract him, of course, and then you can go to the Room of Requirement and think up some place really pretty for them to go and have a lovely romantic meal.'

'A romantic meal?' Remus asked looking doubtful.

'Yeah, you know, nothing too special though...I wouldn't want Lily to feel underdressed or anything and if I told her to dress up nice James would look like an idiot. After all, there's no way in hell that I'd be able to convince him to dress up to come to the Room of Requirement.'

'So, you're going to get them both down there, and you're going to do this all by yourself.'

'Yup, obviously they'll need food though and-'

'-As we all know, the Room of Requirement can't make food magically appear.' His boyfriend interjected.

'Because, it's against the first principle of Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration,' Sirius finished proudly, Remus looked vaguely surprised that he had remembered such a thing when it wasn't likely to come up in their tests but said nothing of it, instead choosing to give him a small smile.

'That's right.'

'So, while _I'm _distracting James, _you _get the cloak. Take Pete with you on the way out and tell him to get food from the kitchens and take it straight up to the Room of Requirement.'

'So...we'll have to wait there until you bring them down?' Remus asked awkwardly.

'Well I'll send Lily down first; she'll go down if I tell her to anyway'

'Right...okay'

The two Marauders then made their way into the Common Room to find Lily and Peter both sitting near the fire. Lily stared straight at them as they walked towards her, she looked incredibly curious as to what they had been discussing outside.

'Look, I'm not going to tell you what we were talking about _or _what I'm planning. Just make sure you go to the seventh floor thirty minutes from now.'

'The seventh floor?' she asked suspiciously.

'Yes, beside the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. We'll meet you there, okay?'

'Why? You really expect me to just come to the seventh floor without a reason? I have things I should be doing Sirius, this may be my first day off doing Head duties for a fair while but I still have _other _things to catch up on, for example the transfiguration assignment. I've been falling behind slightly-'

'-Your expected grade going from Outstanding to Exceeds expectations is hardly a fail, is it?' Sirius snorted in amusement.

'I'm Head Girl, Sirius. I'm _expected _to get top grades and-'

'-And James can help you with first thing in the morning if you're that stressed out.' Sirius sighed, rolling his eyes at her.

'Sirius-'

'-Please Lily,'

'I don't know Sirius...'

'Just trust me, Lily. It'll be worth it' he stated firmly.

'But, Sirius-'

'-Nope, _you _asked for _my_ help, and my help is exactly what you are bloody well getting.' And Sirius felt himself smile apologetically when Remus gave him a look that clearly said _your help?_

'Well, not _just _my help of course. Remus and Pete are going to help out too'

'I wasn't planning on this being knowledge for _everyone, _Sirius' she mumbled looking embarrassed that all the Marauders, except James, were in on the plan.

'Anyway, you just make sure that you're at that tapestry in thirty minutes.'

'You're going to think of plans for me?' Lily asked looking hopeful.

'Yes,' _so to speak_, he thought to himself in amusement. Lily thought they were going to meet to discuss plans...well, she was going to get more than she'd bargained for then.

'Look, we gotta get moving to get things sorted, you know? Make sure James doesn't click on that we're up to anything. We'll see you soon, okay?' Sirius encouraged with a smile. Lily gave a small, slightly unsure looking smile in return and Sirius immediately moved to give her a quick hug, incredibly glad that she one of the people he didn't mind physically touching.

'Oh, Lily!' he called once he had made his way to the bottom of the stairs leading to the dorms.

'What?' she called back and Sirius felt incredibly sorry for the redhead. She looked incredibly panicky and he could tell she was anxious about what she might be talked into. 'You look gorgeous,' he grinned and gave her a quick wink causing the green eyed witch to roll her eyes in amusement and laugh lightly, a tiny bit of tension disappearing from her worried face.

'Do you think she'll be okay?' Remus asked looking quite anxious himself. 'She looks really worried.'

'She'll be fine, Remy. She's just nervous...not that she has anything to be nervous about anyway, James has practically been in love with her since third year. He's hardly gonna turn her down.'

'She's opening up to him though, completely baring herself to him and actually letting him in, and that takes a lot for Lily' the scarred young man said quietly and Sirius could do little more than nod in agreement at his boyfriend's words. He knew Lily well enough to know that she didn't tend to let people know the extent of her emotions very often.

'Yeah well, as far as she knows tonight we are just _discussing _plans. So really, she has nothing to worry about.'

'Well, considering how some of you and James' plans and pranks have turned over the years she probably thinks you're going to do something ridiculously over the top or drastic.'

'I wouldn't do anything big, I know she'd just feel awkward and I wouldn't want her and James getting together to be a horrible memory.'

'So how are you gonna distract him?' Remuschanged subjects, he looked quite unconvinced and Sirius grinned widely in return.

'Improvisation of course' he shrugged and then they entered the dorm; James was currently standing beside his bedside cabinet. He was still rather shivery looking, despite his newly flung on clothes and Sirius immediately made his way over to his own bed, crouching beside his trunk and rifling through it for some clean clothing.

'You wanting anything?' James asked looking at Remus curiously before his eyes widened slightly and he looked between his fellow Marauders awkwardly. 'You're not waiting for me to _leave_, are you?'

'No worries, we're not waiting for you to leave us alone and let us get up to stuff' Sirius laughed as he pulled on a dry pair of trousers, incredibly grateful to no longer be wearing soaking wet clothes.

'Oh...good, cus that would have been awkward' James laughed, having completely returned back to his normal self.

'He was just getting some Potions notes, him and Lily are gonna study in the library' Sirius said, keeping his face completely serious and unsuspicious. 'Actually mate, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute...alone' Sirius said pointedly and nodded towards his own bed.

James looked highly confused by this but, upon Sirius' pleading expression, he agreed and as Sirius pulled the hangings around his bed he shot Remus a small smirk. James cast a silencing charm on the bed before Sirius even thought about such things, and he realised that his forgetfulness would have given him away if James hadn't opted to perform the charm.

'So what's up?' James asked looking confused as to why Sirius hadn't wanted to speak in front of Remus.

'Um...well...' he mumbled, pretending to be awkward and embarrassed and James' expression changed, making him look even more dumbfounded than he was already.

'So...do you want to share something?' James suggested in an attempt to move the conversation along a little and Sirius was grinning inwardly and he suddenly thought of a very fun way to spend the next twenty minutes. Hell, if he was going to be basically handing his best friend's true love to him so easily, then surely that best friend should have to suffer in some way first.

'Well, it's about me and Remus' um..._relationship_.' he explained, putting on a fake sheepish smile and watching his friend's facial expression change drastically in mere seconds.

'Um...what about it?' his best friend replied; as usual James was keen to play his role of the supportive best friend and try to help him in whatever way possible.

'Well...I was wondering if you could think of any advice to um...spice things up a little' he watched on as his best friend tried desperately not to grimace and did his best to hide any looks of horror. Of course, Sirius in no way at all needed to _spice up _his relationship with Remus but this, well, this was going to be incredibly amusing. He sat back against the headboard and waited in amusement for James to begin blushing and mumbling as he began his attempt at offering Sirius advice...

As he had expected it had been positively _hilarious _to watch as his best friend attempted to give him advice for his relationship that he didn't even need. He made a quick mental note, as he turned to walk into the seventh floor corridor, to let James know that he had been toying with him after James returned from his _date _with the lovely Lily Evans.

'Remus, did you manage to get everything sorted?' Sirius called as he made his way along the seventh floor corridor.

'Yes, where's James?' the pale young man enquired whilst looking slightly confused.

'Oh, I told him I wanted him to meet me in the Room of Requirement in ten minutes, not to be late and that it was _very _important.'

'And he wasn't curious as to why he couldn't just come now'

'Well, of course he was, but I hinted it might be something to do with a new prank and-'

'-you idiot' Remus sighed shaking his head thoroughly.

'What?'

'He's probably going to think this is some sort of prank now'

'Nah, he's know Lily would never go along with a prank like that...in fact, she wouldn't go along with _most _pranks.'

'I suppose, but he might think you're up to something. Probably think you've slipped Pete polyjuice potion and talked him into going along with pretending to be Lily solely for laughs.'

'Why the hell didn't _I _ever think of that? That would have been an _amazing _prank.'

'No, Sirius that would have been very cruel.' Remus sighed but his lips were tugging upwards slightly, indicating that he was actually quite amused.

'Lily?'

'Should be here any minute now' Remus confirmed with a smile.

'And the room?'

'Is perfectly ready for their arrival, Pete's been setting up the food and stuff, so the room's still open for us to take them in'

'Okay' he smiled nervously. 'I hope this goes well, James will kill me if I fuck things up and make Lily mad at him'

'Everything will be just fine' Remus told him firmly, giving his hand a quick squeeze and Sirius smiled warmly at him, subconsciously leaning closer to the scarred young man and very nearly touching lips with his boyfriend before a loud voice interrupted his thoughts.

'I thought you two knew better than to get close and cuddly in corridors?' The amused tones of James Potter rang through the otherwise empty corridor and Sirius grinned at his best friend feeling incredibly excited.

'What can I say? He's just too damn hard to resist.' Sirius laughed. Admittedly it had been a rather foolish thing to do in the corridor but it wasn't like there was anyone here anyway.

'So what's this fabulous prank you two have conjured then? And why the hell wasn't I involved in the first stages of the planning process' James was wearing his usual cheerful grin and striding towards them which, in all honestly, took very little time.

'There is no prank' Sirius shrugged, making sure to make eye contact to prove his honesty.

'There's no prank?' James asked; his eyes had widened slightly in a disbelieving expression giving him a rather childlike look. Sirius was instantly reminded of his little brother when they had been far younger, a long time before Hogwarts.

He and Regulus had gone to stay with his Uncle Alphard for a short time whilst his parents had went on holiday without them. They had spent some of their time at their uncle's house playing with other children who had lived nearby. However, the other children hadn't been _purebloods_, and Sirius' parents had been _extremely _unhappy to find out that they had been spending time with such _lowlifes. _Sirius had been quick to defend his newfound friends, claiming that they were just like him and Regulus and that he thought they were soon as they had returned home he and Regulus had been told exactly how horrible these other children were and had been told that there was no such thing as a _nice _half-blood. Regulus had been thoroughly confused by this at the time, he had only been five or six after all, and neither he nor Regulus had seen their uncle since.

'Siri?' He shook his head slightly and looked in the direction of the voice. Remus was looking straight at him worriedly and Sirius gave him a weak smile in return.

'I'm fine, just got lost in my own thoughts for a moment.' He assured the other before turning to look at James once more. 'Like I said, there is no prank. I just needed to convince you to come down here.'

'Why?' the bespectacled youth asked looking confused and once again seeming very childlike.

'Because...' he began awkwardly. But he was saved the explanation as a familiar redhead made her way along the corridor. He watched closely as she drew nearer to them and saw her expression change from slightly worried to incredibly suspicious as she spotted them standing with James.

'What's going on?' she asked immediately.

'Okay, I get that you didn't tell _Lily _what you're up to but come one Sirius, I'm your _best friend_. Surely that gives me enough of a boost to find things out before her.' His best friend huffed unhappily.

'Follow me, and all shall be revealed' Sirius said jokingly putting on a mysterious voice and James immediately reached out a hand to grab Lily's arm.

'What _are _you doing?' she asked looking slightly exasperated.

'We shouldn't follow him. He's up to something' James said as if that explained everything and she stopped immediately, her eyes widening slightly and Sirius could tell that she was going to trust James.

'What do you mean?' she asked hesitantly.

'Well, he could be intending to prank us' the messy haired young explained and Remus shot Sirius a look that clearly said _I told you so_.

'I'm not bloody well pranking anybody.' Sirius exclaimed loudly. 'I'm trying to do something _nice _for my _friends, _now stop being annoying gits and just do what I say.'

'We're honestly not going to prank you. Just trust us, please?' Remus said helpfully and Sirius shot him an appreciative smile as their friends nodded in agreement, apparently they were far more trusting of Remus at that point.

'Come on then, follow me.'

'So we _are _still going to the Room of Requirement?' James asked sounding surprised.

'Yup'

'The Room of Requirement!' the redhead exclaimed in shock. 'You mean the Come and Go Room? When did you find it and why haven't you told me before now!' she demanded unhappily.

'Yes, James and Pete found it last year, and it just didn't ever come up really.' Sirius shrugged. 'We know about _lots _of places that you don't' he smirked as he finally opened the door and entered the Room of Requirement with the other three Gryffindors just behind him.

Sirius wasn't sure _exactly _what he had been expecting to find in the Room of Requirement but it certainly wasn't this. The room was beautifully decorated with apparently fresh lilies spread out across the room, a little cheesy, in Sirius' opinion, but most likely effective. In the midst of the room was a fairly large table with two seats, candles and even a bottle of wine in the middle. Peter had sorted out the food appropriately and the meals were all set up in order of what they should eat first.

'Remus put charms on the food, you know, to make sure it stays the right temperature 'til you eat it.' Peter explained awkwardly as all five of them stood in complete and utter silence. Peter moved quickly to join the others and Sirius gave him a quick clap on the shoulder to show his thanks.

'What...what's going on?' James finally asked looking even more confused than before.

'We, your best friends, have brought the two of you down here to enjoy this lovely meal...call it a...a first date, if you will.' He informed his best friend happily.

'A first date?' James gasped looking horrified that this had happened without his permission.

'Don't worry; Lily's not going to kill you. I swear...although she might kill us for not letting her in on this.' Sirius chuckled and gave Lily his best apologetic smile. 'I wanted this to be as much of a surprise for you as it was for James' he explained, making sure to keep eye contact with the redhead whose face was now so bright that it wasn't far off matching her hair.

'I...I don't know what to say' she whispered quietly looking both embarrassed and thankful at the same time.

'Wait...so, does that mean you're actually going to, you know...' James mumbled, trailing off awkwardly as he looked at the green eyed witch.

'Have a date with you?' she filled in for him with a nervous smile. James nodded quickly in return, his eyes were even wider than before and looking as if he thought Christmas might just have come early after all.

'Then yes, I am...if you still want to have a date with me, that is.' She replied; her face was growing redder still, if that was at all possible and James face split instantly into a wide, cheesy grin.

'That's great! I mean...yes, that'd be...that would be lovely' James changed his words quickly and she smiled shyly at him.

'Well, I do believe that the three of us have fulfilled our destinies now' Sirius said dramatically to the two blushing youths. 'My kind sir, you and your maiden may dine until your heart's content'

'You three really sorted all this out for us?' Lily asked looking close to tears.

'Yes, now don't go getting all emotional with me Lily. I don't deal well with girls crying, totally useless I am.' Sirius laughed lightly and he soon felt himself being hugged, rather tightly, by Lily who had thrown her arms around him in thanks.

'Thank you _so _much.' She whispered to him. 'I never would have had the guts to do this myself.'

'You would have, it just would have taken a lot longer and I'm far too lazy to spend my life waiting for your two to get together yourselves.' He replied lightly and then pulled away from her embrace and allowed her to hug Remus and Peter in turn for their help.

'Now, you two enjoy your meal...no hexing each other, and remember kids...contraception charms' he teased them.

'Sirius!' Lily screeched looking mortified and he immediately let out a bark of laughter, stopping short only when he felt Remus' hand smack him over the back of the head for his comment. He knew perfectly well that _that_ wasn't going to happen anyway, but it had just been too tempting to say it anyway.

'Sorry Petal, I just couldn't resist.' And upon James death glare he continued his laughter once more. 'Okay, Okay. I didn't mean to insult you're _Gryffindor honour_.' He added to them, rolling his eyes.

He immediately made to walk towards the door with Remus and Peter but was stopped short by his best friend who lowered his voice drastically.

'I...I dunno guys just...thanks, I suppose. You have no idea how much this means to me'

'No problem James, we've all got your back mate' Sirius smiled and pulled the bespectacled young man into a quick hug. 'go on then, you better go get your girl before she realises what she's just gotten herself into' he teased and James only grinned back in reply before turning towards his date and running a hand through his hair in an attempt to make it look deliberately messy. Some things - Sirius decided with a small smile - would never change.

**Sorry for taking so long between posts, again. I've kind of had a tough week so I've not really been in the writing mood. But I am definitely back to normal now and will hopefully get some longer chapters up during the week to make up for my major lack of posting recently.**

**So...James and Lily's first date...wasn't all that inventive or original but tell me what you thought anyway :)**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

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	76. Chapter 76 Advice and Two Full Moons

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Sirius Black, I fucking love you!' A body quickly accompanied the sudden shout of glee and Sirius opened his eyes just in time to see, as well as feel, James land half on him and half on Remus. However, he was quick to realise that he was the better off of the bed's usual occupants; James had somehow managed to accidently knee Remus in the stomach when he landed on them.

'James, you overexcited bloody buffoon!' he growled in irritation, wrapping an arm around Remus protectively and using the other to shove James backwards slightly. This month was one of the unfortunate occasions where there were _two _full moons, meaning that Remus was quickly becoming even weaker than usual as the full moon neared.

'Sorry,' James replied sheepishly. 'I misjudged my landing.'

'James, would you care to explain _why, _exactly, you felt the need to jump on my bed in the middle of the night?' Remus asked; he looked pretty exhausted and Sirius pulled the scarred young man even closer letting him curl further into his side.

'Because I had to thank you-'

'-you already did' Sirius cut in.

'I mean _properly _thank you_._' James explained happily, apparently he was completely oblivious to the fact that his friends were currently exhausted._ '_I brought you a thank you gift' he added in a sing song voice, holding out two firmly wrapped bundles to them. Sirius didn't even need to ask what was in the neatly folded napkins; he'd been to the kitchens enough times to know when he was being given cake.

'Fine, but once Remus has eaten his cake you better leave him to get some sleep' he warned his best friend. 'It's too close to the full moon for you to be bugging him all night, he needs his rest.'

'Its fine Sirius' Remus assured him with a small smile. 'After all, James _does_ only get the excitement of his first date with Lily one time'

'You say that as if his excitement will lessen after any future ones' Sirius snorted.

'Wha's all the noise 'bout?' Pete's voice treaded across the dark dormitory, followed by a long, loud yawn.

'James thought we should all be awake to hear him talk about the one hundred best things about Lily' Sirius grinned wildly, but his laugh came out more bark-like than usual.

'Oh, shush Sirius.' The bespectacled young man huffed unhappily.

'Shush yourself...bloody ponce' he muttered with a smirk.

'I'm not a ponce' James stated firmly before patting beside him on the bed to indicate that Peter should come and join them. Sirius shuffled slightly until he was sitting upright, propped up against the headboard with James sitting opposite him and motioned for Remus to sit with him. The scarred young man curled into his embrace, clearly taking a great deal of comfort from him so close to the full moon.

'So...' James began happily as Pete sat down next to him. James spent several hours detailing his date with Lily, and talking about certain moments repeatedly, seeming to gain more and more enthusiasm with each retelling.

'And then, we got back to the Common Room and it was empty, _empty _and she didn't even complain that we'd been out too late or anything and then, right, this is the best bit. We said goodnight and then...she kissed me! On the cheek, she actually kissed me!'

'On the cheek' Sirius snorted feeling incredibly amused by his best friend's excitement. 'All that work we put it and all you got was a kiss on the cheek'

'But it was a kiss, Sirius!'

'Yes, on the _cheek_' he found himself replying pointedly.

'But she actually kissed me'

'Wow, I wonder how many times you need to say it before I lose my mind and start repeating you' Sirius said in mock seriousness.

'Oh Siri, leave him be. He's happy' Remus chuckled lightly, swatting his arm playfully without moving from his position against Sirius' chest.

'So, are you two like...you know' Peter began awkwardly.

'Are you two together now?' Sirius explained for the chubby Marauder.

'Oh...I dunno, I mean, I didn't ask her out. Oh Merlin! I didn't ask her out, what if she thinks I didn't enjoy it as much as she did? What if-'

'-James shut up already, you sound pathetic. She doesn't think any of that nonsense; just ask her out first thing in the morning, before we head down for breakfast.'

'Okay,' James replied weakly looking quite unsure.

'You know, I miss the days when all four of us fitted into the one bed to sleep' Peter sighed sadly.

'Yeah, it sort of takes the fun away to know that I'll need to move before going to sleep' James agreed unhappily.

'Wow and there I was thinking that you wouldn't _ever_ let us get some much needed sleep.' He found himself teasing his best friend.

'Git'

'Ponce'

'G'night guys' James called, finally making his way towards his own four poster bed and, with a quick _goodbye_ from Peter as well, Sirius was able to shift and pull the hangings around Remus' bed once more.

'I'm glad James is happy' he smiled as he pulled Remus closer to him; Remus always did seem quite cold when the full moon was near, after all.

'Yes, he seems so...elated'

'It's quite weird though, I mean, James and Lily only just getting together now. We've already been together for two years now...'

'Is this one of those nights, where you're going to end up talking all sentimental, and I'm going to have to listen to your cheesy ramblings?' Remus teased lightly, cuddling closer, if possible, and Sirius could feel his chest tighten slightly. He loved just lying still and feeling Remus' calm breaths trail over his skin; it was oddly relaxing. Settling into a comfortable position, he placed a gentle kiss on Remus' pale skin, and closed his eyes, ready to get whatever small amount of sleep he could before breakfast...

'Good morning, Petal' he greeted the redhead happily as he reached the Gryffindor Table.

'I suppose the rest of us don't get a greeting then?' James pretended to huff.

'The rest of us being you? Cus I can't see Remy or Pete and I _know _that there isn't anyone else I'd bother saying it to.'

'Well, so I don't get a "good morning" then?'

'No,'

'Why not?'

'Reason one; you woke me up in the _very _early hours of the morning-'

'-I provided cake-'

'-_Therefore_, my morning wasn't _entirely _good-'

'-That's harsh-'

'-Reason two; you're a ponce-'

'-I am not-'

'-a fucking ponce? I assume that _was _what you were going to say, after all, I've heard you say it often enough. Yet, I never _quite _believe you...' Sirius grinned triumphantly as James gaped wordlessly while Lily tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her amusement by stifling her laugh with her hand.

'Don't encourage him, Lily' James whined unhappily.

'Oh calm James, go do your bloody Head Boy...strut or something'

'Patrol,' James corrected with a huffy expression but Sirius could tell he only half meant it.

'Whatever,' he replied flippantly.

'Are you planning on eating breakfast today, or are you just going to sit here aimlessly?' Lily teased lightly but Sirius could see a flicker of worry in her eyes.

'No need to worry, Petal' he supplied with a smile as he looked towards the doors and saw the remaining two Marauders walking in. 'I was just waiting for the others to appear.'

'Good Morning,' Remus greeted the table. This, of course, led to the pass about of "good morning" between the various members of their group, and Sirius shuffled over quickly to allow Remus to sit beside him.

'Sorry you had to walk down alone; I didn't think it would take quite that long to go over Pete's Herbology homework.' The scarred young man explained.

'Herbology,' he scoffed. 'What nonsense'

'Just because _you _don't do Herbology doesn't mean its nonsense' Remus replied, his lips quirked up slightly in amusement, and he began spreading toast for Sirius absentmindedly.

'I wouldn't have chosen to take Herbology, again, anyway' he shrugged. 'I never liked it in the first place'

'Yeah, you didn't like it because you weren't any good at it' James smirked. 'You're just pissed off that you practically failed'

'So what, _you _practically failed Potions' Sirius reminded him.

'Herbology's easy though,'

'But it's pointless'

'Not if you want to be a Healer' Lily reasoned quickly, clearly trying to change subjects and stop any arguments from arising.

'Well I _don't _want to be a Healer, so it's not a problem' he laughed.

'So what _do _you plan on doing once you leave Hogwarts?' the green eyed witch questioned him.

'Dunno, as long as the job pays I don't really care'

'But if you could have _any _job in the world, what would it be?' she continued to probe and Sirius could feel himself beginning to tense slightly.

'I think I'd quite like to be an Auror,' James jumped in, and Sirius felt immediately grateful that his best friend was willing to distract the redhead's attention for him.

'Really?' she asked, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise, before she added teasingly; 'and I thought you were aiming to become a professional Quidditch player'

'Nah, that's my backup plan' James joked, his face lighting up happily when Lily smiled back at him in an almost shy fashion. 'Are we heading up to Charms yet?'

'We've not ate breakfast yet,' Peter complained, speaking for the first time since they had been in the dorms.

'Yeah, but that's because you took so long to get here' James laughed.

'Just take some toast and eat it on the way to class' Sirius smiled in what he hoped was a helpful manner, but Peter didn't seem any happier and continued to look down as he picked up some of the food, wrapping it partially in a napkin before he stood.

The rest of them stood up quickly, and Sirius smirked as he watched James move closer to walk beside Lily, attempting to look casual as he brushed his hand against hers. Luckily for James, Lily was quite an observant girl and understood what he was doing instantly. She took his hand hesitantly, apparently still a little nervous around him, and she looked pleasantly surprised when James interlaced his fingers with hers, causing her to blush slightly.

'I suppose he remembered to ask her out this morning then' Sirius muttered to Remus in amusement.

'It would seem so,' the pale young man replied, looking quite amused. But, Sirius found himself feeling a slight pang of jealousy as he looked at his two newly coupled friends. He couldn't help but feel slightly resentful that _they_ didn't have to think twice about doing simple things like holding hands. He smiled back at Remus weakly and saw worry lines appear instantly on his boyfriend's tired face...

'Okay, I need your advice, mate' James began once McGonagall had stopped talking.

'Um...about what, exactly'

'Well, Hogsmeade weekend is two weeks away and I was wondering...do you think Lily would want to go on a date in Hogsmeade?'

'No idea, why don't you try asking _her _that, cus I'm fairly certain that's the best way for you to get an accurate answer.'

'But Siri-'

'-I mean it James, just ask her'

'Okay I will, but if she _did _say yes, where would I take her? I mean, I'd hardly wanna take her to Madam Puddifoot's'

'Then don't, go somewhere else'

'Like where though?'

'I don't bloody well know, James' he snapped, he was beginning to feel slightly stressed now. 'I'm not psychic and it's not like _I _go on dates in Hogsmeade, is it? So, therefore, _I _don't have a fucking clue where you should take her'

'Mate, I'm sorry if I'm...I dunno, making you feel awkward or something' James began hesitantly. 'I just, I wanna do things right, you know'

'I know James, but _really, _I'm not the person to ask about these things. Me and...well, we've never even _been _on a date. Even before then, I just kinda messed around, so I've never went dating in Hogsmeade, and have no experience whatsoever of where you should or shouldn't go.'

'_Never?'_ James asked disbelievingly. 'Two bloody years and you two have never-'

'-If we had you would have known about it you oblivious git' Sirius sighed.

'Not necessarily, I mean, I didn't know anything about you two even being together until a year and a bloody half later'

'Yeah I suppose, but no...we've not'

'That's...that's really sad. Why don't you?' the bespectacled young man asked curiously.

'James, that would _kind of _give away that we were together' Sirius rolled his eyes.

'I don't mean Hogsmeade, I mean, why not do what me and Lily did and just have a date in the Room of Requirement.'

'Look, I get that you're trying to help. Really, I do. But...well, we're not like that. I don't feel the need to dress up and do something that I wouldn't normally do because it's what's expected. We don't need all that cheesy atmosphere and whatnot'

'What about...you know...what if the _other _person does want to though, have you ever asked?'

'No...' he admitted somewhat awkwardly.

'Well then!'

'But there's no need to, like I said, we're fine. We still have time alone; we just spend it doing fun things instead of going on cheesy dates.'

'So, you're saying that I should forget about using Hogsmeade as a date?'

'No, I think Lily would really like that, assuming you don't go overboard with trying to impress her.'

'Okay, the other problem...'

'Yes?'

'After I've taken her on a date, we need to meet up again as a group, and then split off into different pairs. Cus it's the last trip before Christmas and I need to get her something without her seeing'

'Okay, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do this year...' he found himself admitting awkwardly. 'It's not like I've got any money or whatnot'

'I can give you money, mate'

'I don't _want _your money though; I want to stand on my own two feet'

'And you will, as soon as we leave school. Until then think of it as...well, let's say, a loan.'

'You mean like, I pay you back when I get a job?'

'Yeah, no strings attached. Plus we're practically brothers...'

'I don't like relying off other people, though'

'Well' James sighed, clearly trying to think of something that would help. He always had loved James ability to think up ideas quickly. 'I could always give you money instead of a present for your birthday'

'I suppose, but a _normal _amount James. Nothing ridiculous, I do have pride, you know'

'Okay, okay, I promise not to offend your honour' the bespectacled young man grinned, holding up his hands in surrender.

'So...' Sirius began awkwardly, after they had temporarily fallen into silence to work.

'What?'

'Do you think that...well...'

'Spit it out, mate' James laughed and Sirius blushed slightly, making sure to lower his voice.

'Do you really think that Remus would, you know, like having an _actual _date'

'Personally, yeah, I do think he'd like it. Really though, you shouldn't need to ask _me _that. You know him far better than _I _do...actually I think you know all of our group the best...except Pete, that's a bit weird, mate' Sirius couldn't help but laugh at James look of apparent realisation, and quickly corrected his best friend.

'Wrong, I'd say Remus knows Lily better than I do, and he probably knows Peter either the same or more than _you _do. So really, I only know you and Remus better than other people do.' And with that, Sirius went back to writing his notes on Transfiguration N.E.W.T preparation...

By the time classes had ended for the day, most of the school seemed to have learnt of James and Lily's new relationship. In fact, people seemed almost fascinated with it. Of course, that wasn't including a fairly large amount of girls who were incredibly unhappy to find that James was no longer available. The most ridiculous part, in Sirius' opinion, was that James had never _really _been available anyway. Anyone with eyes could see that going after James had always been rather pointless; James had simply never been too bothered with anyone else.

Currently, the Marauders, plus Lily, were all sat in their usual spot by the fire. James and Lily were sitting upon the squashy couch with their hands linked, smiling at each other shyly and, in Sirius' opinion, looking incredibly cringe worthy. Remus was currently sitting in an armchair; his eyes were closed tiredly, despite the fact that he wasn't asleep. As for Sirius, well, he was currently sat beside Remus' legs and opposite Peter, who was also sitting on the floor; they had been playing Wizard's Chess for almost and two hours now, there had been several games in that time and Sirius could see that he would soon be checkmated once again, despite his efforts.

'So James, how many hearts do you think you've broke by pursuing a relationship with my pretty, flowery friend?' Sirius barked out and, to his amusement, found that many heads in the room turned away from the group, as if worried they'd be caught staring unhappily.

'How many hearts do you think you could quite easily break in the space of a day, if you decided to' James replied pointedly and, although he tensed slightly, he found himself laughing, once more.

'A fair few, I suppose. But _technically, _I never suggested that any of them ever had a chance anyway' he replied bluntly before directing his second last piece – a knight – closer to Pete's barely harmed side.

'Why do you always do that?' Pete wondered aloud.

'Do what?'

'You don't think about what you're doing, you just go charging straight in with your pieces and end up losing them all.'

'I'm not very tactical, Pete, so I may as well just go for it and hope for the best.'

'Which is exactly how you're going to get yourself blown up one day' James smirked.

'No, James, I think you'll find that _you _will be the one to get blown up, most likely by attempting to brew a potion...or perhaps just by attempting to cook a meal'

'Don't act as if you'd be any better off if you tried to cook' James huffed and Sirius supposed his friend had a point. He really had _never _cooked a meal. He'd boiled a pot of soup that one summer at James' when they had all _camped out _in the garden, but other than that, he really hadn't. All the cooking in his life had either been done my house-elves of Mrs Potter.

'I bet you, _my_ food would still be better than anything _you _could make though'

'Checkmate,' Peter declared happily. Sirius looked at the chess board momentarily, surprised he hadn't even realised he was going to be beaten in that one move. He then wonder why Peter was surprised really, Sirius couldn't remember _ever _beating him at chess, although, he knew that on a few occasions both Remus and James had managed to do so.

He gave a small shrug to admit his defeat and then turned to see that Remus had fallen asleep on the armchair; his hair falling down into his pale, tired face. He smiled faintly at the young man before him and then shifted, using the arm of the chair to pull himself up, before reaching down and gently shaking his boyfriend.

'Remus, come on, you'll get a better sleep upstairs.' He said quietly and watched as Remus' eyes fluttered open, looking momentarily confused before recognising both Sirius and their surroundings. 'Come on Remy, you're tired. Let's just get an early night's sleep, okay?' the scarred young man nodded weakly, apparently too tired to argue, and stood up rather shakily.

'Maybe we should all have an early night,' James suggested, looking concerned.

'If you want, but it's not necessary' Sirius shrugged and headed towards the stairs, standing just a little behind Remus as they made their way up to the dorms, calling out a quick "goodbye" to the other before making their way up the stairs.

As soon as they were out of sight Sirius wrapped an arm around Remus' waist carefully, supporting him as best as he could as they walked the rest of the way to their dormitory. They pretty much stumbled through the door of their dorm, quickly shutting it behind them, and making their way over to the bed where Remus began half-heartedly removing his clothes for bed. Sirius wanted nothing more than to help his boyfriend and save him the hassle, but Remus could be stubborn about such things and Sirius didn't want to make him feel weak or like a burden, despite how stupid a notion that seemed to him anyway.

'You should go back,' Remus told him looking exhausted.

'I'm perfectly happy here, Remy' he smiled softly and pulled back the cover of of the bed to save Remus from having to do anything else. He was fairly certain that the pale young man knew perfectly well why he'd done it, but had merely decided to let it slip, knowing that he was only looking out for him after all.'

'You should be downstairs, getting some studying done, or doing your Defence Against the Dark Arts essay. You won't have much time to get it done you know, with the full moon coming up and-'

'Let _me _worry about that, and _you _just concentrate on getting some sleep, okay?' he smiled lovingly as he began undressing, himself.

'Okay,' Remus replied in defeat, too tired to continue debating the issue any longer. Sirius quickly climbed into the bed, pulling the hangings shut once more and shifting closer to Remus to let him snuggle in. As expected, Remus curled closer almost instantly, wrapping an arm around Sirius' own waist like a small child holding a stuffed toy and snuggled as close as humanly possible.

'I love you Sirius' the scarred young man whispered, his eyes already closed and his breathing becoming slightly deeper and evening out.

'I love you too, Remy. I love you too'

**No need to worry, there is more James/Lily to come...they just need to settle into their relationship a little first :) Also, sorry I haven't replied to chapter 75's reviews yet. Its currently *checks time* 3.20 AM and so I won't be doing it right now. However, I will make sure to reply to them tomorrow as soon as I come on the computer...so for now, enjoy the new chapter!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

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**Alex Dansen**

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**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviers! ILY people :)**

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	77. Chapter 77 Unwanted Gossip

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Hey, Head Boy! I want to report a case of abuse' Sirius complained as he flopped down onto one of the squashy chairs in the Common Room.

'Well, I'm afraid that's not something I deal with. You'll have to take that up with McGonagall' James laughed as he looked up from the Transfiguration Essay he was currently re-reading to check for errors.

'Aren't you curious about what the abuse that I have to report is?' he pretended to gasp in hurt.

'Not really' the bespectacled young man smirked; he was clearly enjoying not playing along.

'But James, my shiny badge wearing friend, I am being neglected.'

'Why? Is a certain person not putting out?' the bespectacled young man teased. This time Sirius really was shocked, he hadn't expected that.

'Wow James, that was rather quick and witty for you at this time in the morning'

'Well, what can I say; I have you as my best friend. I need to make jokes to cover up my inner struggle of whether it is worse to have a shit best friend or no best friend at all' James sighed dramatically and Sirius instantly pretended to huff at his best friend's comment, sticking his tongue out childishly.

'You really are a bloody ponce' he smirked.

'I'm not a bloody ponce'

'Sure thing _Jamsie_'

'Okay, I'll play along if it will shut you up. What form of neglect has been eating away at you my friend?'

'Well, you see I have this friend.' He began, adjusting his face to give him a sad, far away expression.

'Do go on'

'And this friend of mine has been rather neglectful. He's Head Boy at this wizarding boarding school, you see'

'Right' James was clearly trying not to laugh now, but Sirius kept a straight face and continued on regardless.

'But that's not all he's also on the Quidditch team, and he has this ultra psychopathic girlfriend'

'Sirius' James' voice was laced with a light warning now, but he was still smiling nonetheless.

'So basically, between Head Boy duties, Quidditch practice, class work and his girlfriend this friend of mine seems to have very little time to spend with his best friend anymore.'

'Siri' James began, looking rather guilty.

'So I figured I'd ask your advice on something' Sirius continued, pretending not to have heard him.

'Um...okay...'

'If I was to suggest to this friend of mine that we hang out tonight, just the two of us mind, what do you think he would have to say about that?'

'I think this friend of yours would probably quite like that, I'm sure he misses spending time alone with you too'

'You think so?' he grinned happily.

'Yes I do, however, I also think that this friend of yours might be quite hungry.'

'Perhaps this friend of mine wishes to go and have breakfast before rushing off to the land of Hogsmeade?'

'Yes, I'm fairly certain your friend would like that idea'

'Hmm, sounds like a good idea' he laughed openly and James threw an arm over his shoulders with a grin plastered across his face.

'Off we go then'

'Off we go, indeed!'

It didn't take the two seventh years to make their way down to the Great Hall, grabbing their friends from the library on their way there, and were soon sitting at the Gryffindor table. He waited patiently as Remus began spreading toast, as he always did, making sure to give Sirius a slice before buttering a slice for himself.

'So, are you going to get shopping for Christmas presents today?' Lily smiled warmly at them, her hand rather obviously linked with James' beneath the table.

'Yeah I suppose...' he sighed, he really did _hate _shopping. It always seemed so tedious when he had to spend ages looking for things, especially if he wasn't even getting to keep them for himself.

'You sound incredibly enthusiastic, Sirius' Remus said sarcastically, chuckling lightly as he buttered yet another slice of toast for him.

'What can I say, I'm gonna be spending my Saturday shopping instead of...doing _other things_ which would be much more fun' he was huffing slightly but he couldn't help but smirk as he said the words "other things".

'Well, the quicker you decide what to get people and finish shopping, the quicker you can come back to Hogwarts and do whatever _other things_ you'd like to do' Remus said with fake innocence, pretending not to understand what Sirius had meant.

'Really, well that's good news then. I know exactly who want to _do.' _James choked loudly on his pumpkin juice at Sirius words, and Sirius immediately pretended to correct himself. 'I meant I know exactly what I want to do.'

'Don't even try to act all innocent Sirius; you knew _exactly _what you were saying.' The bespectacled youth exclaimed with a pointed finger as Lily patted his back looking quite amused.

'Who does Sirius Black want to do?' a voice asked teasingly from behind him, having just caught the end of their conversation, and he felt himself tense instantly in recognition.

'I'm sorry, did I accidentally give you some sort of reason to think I was talking to you?' he asked bluntly and watched as the fellow Gryffindor laughed, pretending to take his comment humorously.

'Well, what can I say, you've not been fooling around with anyone for so long now that I was beginning to think you'd turned asexual.'

'Look, Mary, no offence intended but I don't think Sirius actually gives a shit what you think' James added, coming to his defence quickly.

'Well, I suppose it _is _difficult. You did fool about with older people in fourth year, so by the time we came back for fifth year most of them had taken to dating instead' she mused. 'I suppose you're just not really the commitment type'

'You don't know anything about him' Lily shot angrily, her green eyes flashing dangerously at the witch.

'You're rather defensive for someone who's supposed to be dating his best friend.' Mary commented.

'Firstly; I _am _dating James, and secondly; grow up, Sirius is one of my best friends so I have every right to defend him.'

'I don't need defended, Lily' Sirius shrugged.

'There's nothing wrong with just wanting a bit of harmless fun' Mary replied, smiling flirtatiously at Sirius.

'I don't really care what anyone thinks about me.' He added to Lily, no longer really paying attention to the other witch. 'I couldn't care less whether people think I'm asexual or that I'm sneaking off in the night, without anyone noticing, for some form of sexual escapades. I _really _don't care,'

'Well maybe you don't care about rumours and gossip, but maybe _other _people feel differently. So you should just set people straight and avoid other people's feelings being hurt.' Lily snapped, clearly referring to the rumour about exactly how_ far_ Sirius had went with Mary Macdonald during fourth year, and thinking it was unfair for him to be so flippant about such rumours when he was with Remus.

Remus, he realised suddenly, had been incredibly quiet since Mary's arrival. But he couldn't chance a look towards his boyfriend with gaining unwanted attention and made sure to continue looking straight across at Lily as he spoke.

'Just drop it okay, Petal.' He said warningly.

'Fine, but I know for a fact that if _I _was in that kind of situation then _I _wouldn't be very happy about it.'

'Oh, so what's this then?' Mary asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement at the potential chance of juicy gossip. 'Sirius Black isn't seeing someone in secret, is he?'

'Wow, Mary. You certainly love any chance to form gossip, don't you?' Sirius snorted in return, hoping to throw the witch of track.

'Personally, I'd be happier if your answer to my question was "no"' she flirted, bending over slightly before whispering in his ear; 'I was never really interested in relationships either'

'No Mary, you're just so desperate that you're willing to go without a relationship. There's a difference.' He replied bluntly. 'Now if you don't mind, I'm _trying _to have breakfast with my friends.

The witch looked incredibly offended by his remark and straightened up immediately, her eyes narrowing with anger at the rejection.

'You wait and see Sirius; you can't keep relationships secret for long around here, I'll find out exactly who you're sneaking about with.' And with those final words she stalked of, rather unhappily to sit with her own friends, who were all watching her closely, clearly wondering what had happened.

'Well, that was fun' he muttered sarcastically.

'And she clearly doesn't know what she's talking about, unless over two years doesn't count as "long" to her' James muttered back with a roll of his eyes.

'Ugh, Mary Macdonald _really _gets on my nerves.' Lily told them as she glared down the table towards their fellow Gryffindor.

'She's a bit of a tart, but everybody knows that anyway.' James shrugged.

'Thanks for sticking up for me, even though you didn't have to' Sirius mumbled to the redhead.

'You have nothing to thank me for, Sirius' she smiled. 'Marauders come first, right? Or whatever nonsense it is that you lot usually come out with' Sirius laughed loudly, surprised that she had remembered that line and she smiled back, looking half amused and half unsure.

'You're not a Marauder though,' Pete added in bluntly and Sirius immediately saw hurt flash through the witch's green eyes. Sure, she hadn't really known what The Marauders _actually_ meant, but she had known that it referred to their group and had clearly assumed that she was now part of that.

'Don't be such a bloody git Pete' James added in defensively and Sirius saw his friend squeeze the redhead's hand comfortingly.

The group went awkwardly silent, for a moment, before James drummed up the talks about Hogsmeade once more, but Sirius could have sworn he'd heard the chubby young mutter; "well she's not"' He made a quick mental note to tell his friend off, later on, if he got a moment alone with the chubby Marauder.

'I uh...I think I'm going to do a bit of studying in the library before we head off.' Remus began excusing himself feebly. 'I'll meet you in the courtyard before it's time to leave'

'Remy' he began awkwardly, not entirely sure what he could say to make Remus feel any better. _Damn that stupid Mary Macdonald_, he thought bitterly.

'Remus, don't leave' James pleaded sadly, clearly understanding why Remus was being so quiet and uncomfortable.

'I've got to work on my Ancient Runes work for a bit, I'll meet up with you guys soon' and with that the pale young man walked away leaving Sirius feeling utterly terrible.

'He doesn't even have any Ancient Runes work with him' Sirius sighed in frustration as he watched his boyfriend's retreating form.

'I told you that letting people gossip like that would lead to him feeling hurt' Lily hissed at him, making sure that no one was listening.

'Yeah, your advice was to set people straight, and funnily enough, Lily, if we wanted to come out to the whole bloody school we would have done it by now' he hissed back just as angrily.

'Now what? He's gonna be awkward all day now'

'I'm gonna go talk to him'

'Oh yes, cus that's not gonna be noticable when Mary Macdonald is clearly watching you like a hawk now' she informed him sarcastically, and to his surprise, when he turned his head to check, he found that Mary was indeed watching him with narrowed, curious eyes.

'Well, pretend you're going with me somewhere, just 'til we're out of here and then I'll go talk to him.'

'Fine, but you owe me; I won't get a chance to eat until we're in Hogsmeade now'

'Thank you,' he whispered gratefully and the other two Marauders joined in, deciding to leave also.

'So you're all going to starve then?' he smirked.

'Not necessarily, there _are _other ways of obtaining food, of course' James grinned.

'You're gonna show her?' Pete gaped, clearly surprised that Lily was being allowed to know more of their secrets now that she and James were dating, especially since the Kitchens was one of their most regularly used locations.

'Don't see why not, it's not _that _big a deal' Sirius defended his best friend quickly, giving Pete a look that challenged him to argue with him. Which, of course, Sirius knew the chubby Marauder defiantly _wouldn't _do.

'Show me what?' the redhead asked apprehensively.

'Ah it's a secret, Petal. You'll just have to wait and see.' Sirius joked lightly as they reached the end of the corridor.

'D'you think Remus is actually in the library?' James wondered aloud.

'He knows how worried Sirius gets about him wandering about on his own ever since...well, since we got back to school. He wouldn't lie about where he was going, even if he's upset he wouldn't want to worry Sirius anymore than he already would be.' Lily told her boyfriend firmly.

'Okay, well...wish me luck' Sirius sighed and began the rest of his journey to the library...

It hadn't taken him long to find Remus; whenever the scarred young man went to the library alone he always went to the same table, hidden towards the far end of the library behind a rarely used bookcase containing muggle studies books. After all, if Remus was there alone then that usually meant he wanted to study properly, and that was the quietest part of the library. Not that the library wasn't usually quiet anyway, considering that the librarian was a bit of a psychopathic when anyone was noisy her in her library.

'Remy, I'm sorry 'bout Mary' he sighed as he reached the pale young man.

'You didn't make her come over,' Remus reasoned quietly. 'It's fine'

'Obviously it's not; otherwise we'd still be happily munching on our toast.' He pointed out with a sigh of frustration.

'No...I suppose it's not' Remus admitted weakly.

'Well, what am I supposed to do to make things better then?'

'I don't know Sirius, it's not like you actually _did _anything.'

'I know that, Remy. I just meant-'

'-It hurts Sirius. It hurts to hear her talk to you like that, to have her quite blatantly flirt with you, right in front of me.' Sirius immediately opened his mouth to protest but Remus silenced him with a wave of the hand. 'I know you didn't ask for it, but that doesn't make it any easier to watch.'

'Which is exactly how I felt at James' party' Sirius reminded him and reaching over to capture a pale, scarred hand with his own. 'It's all nonsense Remy; you're the only person in the world that I will _ever _want. I mean it Remy; all I want is me and you...forever'

'Forever is long time, Sirius...'

Sirius went entirely with his first instinct, not thinking in the slightest about any possible consequences, as he pulled Remus straight up and out of his chair, smashing their lips together in a bizarre moment of passion. Remus gasped against his lips in surprise before quickly melting into the kiss, his hand snaking up and losing itself in Sirius' hair. Sirius was trying desperately to convey _exactly _how much he felt for his boyfriend in that one kiss to prove that he really meant what he'd said and losing himself quickly in a sea of sensations.

As one would expect, Remus came to his senses fairly quickly, pulling back from the kiss and looking at him with wide eyes.

'I can't believe we just did that, in the _library _of all places, Sirius' the scarred young man was clearly trying to sound strict, but failed miserably as Sirius caught his eye once more.

'It's okay Remy, no one's here' Sirius replied, quickly scanning their surrounding and feeling incredibly grateful that Remus tended to sit so far out of sight. 'I know that was _really _stupid, but I just...I don't know really, I just wanted to prove-'

'-I know,' Remus cut him off with an almost shy smile. 'I understand. I'm sorry for getting so wound up by Mary. But we certainly can't go doing any more of _that' _Remus said pointedly, clearly referring to the unexpected kiss they had just shared. 'Especially not if Mary's determined to find out who you've been seeing all this time'

'Yeah I suppose you're right,' he mumbled apologetically. 'I just don't want that stupid tart to ruin our day,'

'You weren't looking forward to Hogsmeade anyway' Remus reminded him with a quick roll of the eyes.

'I wasn't looking forward to attempting to buy people presents, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy just being there with you.'

'I don't believe you in the slightest, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were up to something' the pale youth chuckled lightly.

'So, you're still coming to Hogsmeade with me then?'

'Of course, it's the last chance to buy Christmas presents after all.'

'What are you doing for the holidays?' he found himself asking worriedly.

'I'm not sure yet,' Remus admitted.

'I don't think you should go' Sirius told him bluntly.

'Siri-'

'-I mean it Remy, I don't want you going back home when you don't need to. The last thing you need is death eaters at your door again'

'I know' Remus sighed sadly, slipping back into his chair looking unsure.

'Plus, this is our last year at Hogwarts. I want everyone here to spend it together.'

'You might need to try _asking _people what they're doing for the holidays then'

'I know, but I doubt James would leave anyway. His parents would prefer we were all safe at Hogwarts anyway.'

'What about the others?'

'I don't know, I mean Pete doesn't stay for Christmas very often, and I don't remember Lily _ever _staying for Christmas.'

'I'm sure if you explain to them the benefits of staying at Hogwarts over the festive period-'

'-that's exactly what I'll do! I mean, I'll convince Pete that this is the Marauders' last chance of having Christmas all together. Then I can just convince Lily that she _really _wants to spend Christmas with her new boyfriend.'

'I think Lily's parents would want her home for Christmas though, I assume that's why she didn't stay any other year.'

'Nah, she didn't really have anyone worth staying for before. But we're all proper friends now, so she can have her first ever Marauder Christmas'

'I wouldn't let Pete hear you say that' Remus joked half heartedly, clearly referring to the earlier comments at Gryffindor table.

'What was up with him? He was being a right git actually, not really normal behaviour for Pete'

'I think, well, in all honesty, I think Pete's feeling a bit pushed out by Lily. I mean we're together, and now James and Lily are together as well.'

'So he just doesn't really know what his place is anymore,' Sirius sighed in understanding.

'Something like that,'

'There's nothing we can do though. I mean, James isn't going to stop going out with Lily when he's been chasing her all these years, and I'm _certainly _not giving you up'

'That's good to hear' and Sirius smiled as he watched his boyfriend chuckle at him in amusement. 'Well, we should get moving before the others come in here looking for us. Pete's probably feeling awkward by now considering it's just the three of them.'

'Do we _really _have to go shopping? Can't we just tell them that Christmas is about more than just presents and tell them that our present to them if the joy of understanding the _real _meaning of Christmas?'

'No we can't do that because it's _very _obvious that you're just trying to get out of buying them presents. Now come on, Madam Pince will probably come snooping around soon anyway, she'll be extremely suspicious as to _why _you aren't being disruptive.'

'_Me? _Why would _I _be considered disruptive?' he asked feigning innocence.

'Just move Siri' Remus chuckled, swatting him playfully as he stood.

'Fine, ruin my fun'

'I'm sure James would be _thrilled _to hear that you didn't want to go to Hogsmeade with him because you'd rather stay in the library' his boyfriend laughed sarcastically.

'Oh fine, I'm coming already. But I fully expect you to keep Lily busy tonight to make up for it.'

'Keep Lily busy?'

'And Pete, of course. Me and James are gonna have some fun tonight, we've not spent time alone _properly _in ages.'

'Doing what exactly? He _is _Head Boy now, Sirius' Remus told him suspiciously.

'Nothing too bad honest, we're just gonna have a few drinks and pull a few harmless pranks...the first years really are being cheeky brats this year.'

'Fine, as long as it doesn't involve transfiguration. I do _not _want to explain to Lily that James has been caught transforming first years into hamsters or something.'

'Hamsters? Honestly Remy, what kind of Marauder are you? That was _far _to plain an idea' Sirius teased as they began walking out of the door.

'Yes, well that way I can't be accused of giving you any ideas' the scarred young man replied with an small smile.

**Wow, 15 reviews for the latest chapter...I'm REALLY grateful, it's amazing to know I have so much support! Also I passed 500 reviews! Which means a hell of a lot to me by the way! I love my reviews loads and loads :)**

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	78. Chapter 78 Christmas Truths and Pranks

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'I wish you a merry kissmas, I wish you a merry kiss, I wish you a merry kissmas and a cold butterbeer.'

'Sirius, why do you insist on twisting songs?' James groaned loudly from his four-poster bed, whilst Sirius shut the door behind him.

'Tut tut Prongs, I suppose that means you don't want what I offered through my _twisted _song.'

'No mate, I don't particularly want a kiss from you.'

'I meant a cold butterbeer,' he laughed loudly and it took mere seconds for his best friend to sit upright, reaching quickly for his glasses.

'Now, _that _I won't argue with.' Sirius quickly put a large tray down on James' bed and turned to wake up another Marauder.

'Wakey wakey Wormtail' he called, quickly pulling at his friend's covers to annoy him.

'Wha'?'

'Time to wake up, its Christmas time!'

'Go away, 'm sleepy' the chubby marauder complained tiredly.

'I brought mice pies' he replied in a sing song voice.

'Mince Pies?' Peter asked, cracking one eye open hopefully.

'Yup, I got up extra early and made Mince Pies for you specially.' He declared, throwing himself down onto the Marauder's bed to waken him further.

'Shut up, Padfoot. You didn't bloody make them; you got them from the Kitchens.' James snorted loudly.

'Oh shush, you bloody stag. I was having a moment of respect and you ruined it for me.'

'No you weren't, I can't believe you thought that anyone in here would _ever _fall for that.'

'Personally, I can't believe that you've resorted to bribery in order to get you friends up early,' a voice chuckled from behind him and he turned to see Remus stretching tiredly on his bed.

'Ah, but that's the genius of it, Remy. Nobody ever suspected me to resort to it, which is _exactly _why it worked.'

'Well, I'm not particularly keen on Mince Pies, and it's far too early for me to enjoy a butterbeer so I'm afraid your bribery tactics won't work on me.'

'Ah, but you get the other part of the song' Sirius smirked, drawing ever closer to his boyfriend and climbing atop the bed that shared.

'Oh really?' the other enquired with a raised eyebrow, and Sirius smirked further, pushing the scarred young man further back onto the bed.

'Yup, you get the merry kissmas part,' He then pressed Remus straight down into the mattress, kissing him fully, much to the loud protests of James and Peter, and then choosing to leave a trail of kisses across his boyfriend's jaw and neck.

'You're causing scarring to my mental health, Sirius, and I didn't have any chance to knock because you did it while I was in the room' James called to him, clearly quite amused by his best friend's antics.

'Okay, I think you've scarred your best friend enough for one day.' Remus chuckled, his hands threading through Sirius' hair as he spoke.

'No more merry kissmas?' Sirius pretended to pout, causing James to start laughing wildly.

'Not for now...' the pale young man replied with a smile.

'Okay, I can wait 'til later' he grinned and hopped back of the bed. 'Now come on my friends, down to the Common Room we go.'

'Why?'

'Because, I sent your owl, Serafina, to awaken the lovely Miss Evans, and you should probably explain why she got pecked awake this morning'

'Sirius!'

'Well, I wanted her to get up early and spend time with us-'

'-I'm gonna murder you one of these days!'

'Nah, you don't have it in you' he smirked back with a grin. 'You're all defence and no offence.'

'Trust me, if I'm ever gonna kill someone it'll be you' the bespectacled young man huffed, pulling on his currently unworn pyjamas and rushing off down the stairs.

'Did you really send his owl to peck Lily?' Pete squeaked uncomfortably, looking worried that the Marauders might have arguments on Christmas.

'Course not, I just sent her with a note for Lily to say that we were awake and that she should come down. But that just seemed like a quicker way to get James to move'

'Your way of thinking worries me at times,' Remus said, shaking his head in amusement. 'Come on then, we may as well go down then.

The three remaining Marauders made their way down to the Common Room–with Peter carrying the Mince Pies-and found James and Lily currently standing beside the fire, quite clearly lost in a kiss of their own. With a smirk, Sirius quickly made for the larger seat beside the fire before James could realise his presence, pulling Remus down to sit beside him with a grin.

Lily pulled away quickly, noticing the interruption and blushed slightly. Sirius had to admit, it was quite cute that she was still so shy about being seen kissing her own boyfriend.

'Merry Christmas' she smiled warmly, leaning down to give both him and Remus a hug, before turning and giving one to Peter also who looked rather embarrassed and uncomfortable at her gesture.

'So are we ready to open presents yet?' she smiled happily.

'Yes!' James hollered loudly; he was clearly happy that it was time for him to open his presents.

'Okay,' she replied quickly and moved to take presents out from beneath the Christmas tree, handing each of them their presents from beneath the tree.

Sirius began opening his presents slowly, watching around him as his friends opened their own. James, who was currently sat on the smaller chair by the fire, and tearing the paper off of his presents quickly, like a small child. Lily, who was sat on the floor in front of him, carefully reading all the tags attached to the gifts. Peter, who was sitting directly in front of the fire, and apparently sizing up his presents trying to decide which to open first. Then finally, Remus, who was staring directly at him, his eyes containing a great deal of curiosity as he looked at Sirius.

'Are you not excited anymore?' Remus teased lightly.

'Of course I am, Remy. I was just taking a mental picture of my last Christmas at Hogwarts.' James stopped unwrapping his presents immediately, looking up at him sadly.

'That's a depressing thought' the messy haired youth sighed.

'Yeah...sorry' he found himself mumbling awkwardly, and immediately went back to opening his presents.

Sirius had received an _entire box_ of deluxe Sugar Quills from Lily, a hand drawn picture of the Marauders-which was surprisingly accurate and well drawn-and a small box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans from Peter, a small pewter ornament from Remus in the shape of a dog that bore much resemblance to Sirius in his animagus form and a ring from James.

'James Potter is this a proposal?' he snickered as he opened the small box, revealing a thick, silver ring.

'Shut up, you daft mutt. It's just a plain ring, well it's not really plain I suppose. I got it engraved on the inside.' Sirius quickly picked up the ring to looked for the engraving, and sure enough, he found that on the inside of the ring was the word _Padfoot_.

'It's cool James, first piece of jewellery I've ever got without a Black Family Crest on it.'

'No problem, but I fiddled with it as well, put charms on it.'

'What kind of charms?' he asked warily.

'Well, I got one for myself as well.' James began with a smile. 'I put a charm on them to make them unbreakable, and then, after that, I put another charm on them so that if one of us is ever in danger then the other person's ring will heat up. You know, with everything that going on...' James trailed off awkwardly but Sirius understood perfectly and grinned, pulling his best friend into a tight hug.

'Thanks mate' he said quietly and James patted him on the back, a grin plastered to his face as he pulled away.

'Um...thank you for the present Sirius' Lily said unsurely, looking quite confused and Sirius turned with a smirk.

'I wasn't really sure what to get you so I sort of got you a joke present.' He explained with a laugh as he watched her finger her new book in confusion. 'Next time we go to Hogsmeade you can pick something.'

'You better not have gotten her anything embarrassing, Sirius' James said pointedly before making his way over to his girlfriend and looking down at the present she had received.

'"One Hundred Lesser Known Facts about Stags"' James read aloud before fixing Sirius with a look that quite clearly said _I will get revenge on you_.

'Siri' Remus sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. 'Honestly,'

'I don't get the joke' Lily told him looking confused.

'All will be revealed in good time' Sirius smirked before quickly standing up and reaching out a hand to the redhead, who quickly took his hand.

'Now what?' she asked curiously.

'So _that's _why you asked about _you know what._' James grinned in sudden realisation. 'Is this your way of saying you don't mind me telling her?'

'Telling her what, not...not _that_.' Peter said in disbelief.

'Well, it saves us lying ever time we have to _you know what_.' Sirius shrugged. 'I talked about it with Remus and he agrees that she can be trusted...I trust her enough to believe she won't grass us up.'

'But you're _always _the one that doesn't trust people' Peter reminded him.

'Which shows that she really _must _be trustworthy,' Sirius defended himself firmly. 'Do you trust my judgement of people?'

'Of course I do!'

'Well then.' He finished firmly.

'So...are we all good to tell her?' James asked unsurely.

'Yeah, c'mon Petal. We need to go upstairs for this.'

They quickly made their way up to the boys' dormitory with James leading the way, leaping two steps at a time in excitement or nervousness, Sirius wasn't quite sure which fitted his best friend best at that moment.

'Okay, what's going on?' Lily began suspiciously, sitting down cautiously on James' bed as Remus closed the door behind them all.

'Look,' James began firmly. 'You _know _how much my friends mean to me, right?'

'A long with the whole school' she teased lightly, but Sirius could still see apprehension in her curious green eyes.

'And you know how much Remus suffers on the full moon-'

'-Of course I do!'

'If you could have done something to help, _anything _to help, wouldn't you have chosen to?'

'Of course I would have, James, where is this going?'

'We did something, something that could get us in a _lot _of trouble if we ever got found out. Which is why you have to promise that you won't _ever _tell _anyone _what I'm away to tell you'

'James...you're worrying me.'

'Promise me Lily!' James said firmly and Sirius had to admit, he was surprised that James had it in him to be so firm with her. It proved _exactly _how much James cared about his friends, that he would be so stern with the girl he'd been chasing all these years.

'I promise.' She said firmly, albeit looking worried still.

'We found out that when transformed a Werewolf would only be a danger to other humans,' Sirius cut in, giving Remus' hand a quick squeeze as he spoke. 'So we decided to do something that was incredibly risky, _very _difficult to master and unfortunately illegal.' Lily's eyes widened almost comically in shock and any other time Sirius would have found the expression hilarious.

'But we're best friends, and Remus means a lot to all of us, so we were willing to do it regardless.' James said firmly, his eyes lighting up with determination as he spoke, his fierce loyalty practically pouring out of him with every word.

'Lily...' Sirius said quietly, reaching out to take her hand nervously. 'We're Animagi'

'What...no, you can't be. All Animagi have to be registered, and your names _are not _on the register.'

'Think it through Lily' he replied, keeping his voice low and calm.

'You're not registered, are you?' she asked, looking around at them all in shock.

'No, we're not' James agreed quietly, running his hand through his hair in worry rather than as an attempt to make it looked good, like he normally did.

'Oh my...you're _illegal _animagi; I can't believe you would do something so...so...'

'Necessary.' Sirius finished shortly. 'It was either that or letting Remus rip himself apart month after month, and that _wasn't _an option.'

'I can't...wow...sorry, I'm just...shocked, I suppose.'

'It's okay, but you understand that you can _never _tell anyone about this, right?' Sirius told her, gripping her shoulder to make sure she was taking him seriously.

'If we got found out we'd be sent to _Azkaban_.' James added in, unhooking Sirius' hands from the redhead's shoulders and wrapping an arm around his girlfriend delicately.

'And if that happened, then Remus would be straight back to square one, tearing himself apart, and trust me...if that happened I'd be going to Azkaban for more than just being an illegal Animagus.'

'Sirius!' James exclaimed in shock.

'How many times do I have to tell you James, I don't make threats I don't mean. I wouldn't let_ anyone _get away with inflicting that much pain on him.

'I understand' she replied unsurely. 'So...does it really help?' this time she was looking directly at Remus who gave a small nod.

'More than I could possibly explain, with them there...well, they distract me from hurting myself. I get to transform knowing that they're all there and that they'll be there when I wake up, that they'll take care of me in between. I couldn't possibly explain how much worse my transformations were before they were around to help.'

'Can I...can I see?' she asked them unsurely, her eyes wide with curiosity.

'Don't see why not,' Sirius shrugged. 'Now to end your confusion about the silly names you've heard on various occasions, and the jokes. I present to you Messr's Moony' he began with a nod towards his boyfriend. 'Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs' he pointed at each of them in turn, so that Lily would understand who was who, and then James nodded at them to show they should transform. Sirius transformed almost instantly into his dog form and bounded up to the redhead, licking her cheek happily and causing her to laugh loudly.

'Sirius, stop!' she squealed loudly and he moved away and hopped onto the bed, placing his head in Remus' lap, to allow Lily to stand, moving forward to the other two Animagi in awe.

'It's amazing,' she softly as she reached out, running a hand down the stag's nose. 'I can't believe you all managed this, becoming an Animagus is _incredibly _difficult...so many things can go wrong.' She turned around and looked towards Remus with a small smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

'Are you okay?' the pale young man asked unsurely.

'Yes, I just...you're _so _lucky to have such great friends, to have people who care enough about your well being to risk harm to themselves as well as imprisonment.'

'I know there isn't a day goes by that I don't wonder how I got so lucky' Remus admitted weakly, and Sirius changed back into human form straight away, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend tightly.

'_We're _the lucky ones Remy, you're one of kindest people I've ever met, despite everything you've had to go through and...I don't know what I'd do without you,' he admitted, feeling a blush creep up into his cheeks as he tucked his head into his boyfriend's neck, breathing in his comforting scent.

'I love you, Remy,' he mumbled quietly into his boyfriend's neck.

'I love you too, Siri' Remus replied softly, before pressing a gentle kiss into his hair. Sirius sat up once more, feeling his blush settle down now and saw Lily watching them with a wide smile.

'You two are so _adorable _sometimes' she smiled.

'Sometimes?' Sirius gasped in mock hurt and grinned widely when James and Peter transformed back into their human forms, laughing at his exclamation.

'Now that all the serious stuff is out of the way,' James began happily. 'Why don't we head down to the Great Hall? I'm fairly sure that Breakfast will be ready soon, and I _certainly _want to be there when it is, wouldn't you Padfoot?'

'Why definitely, Prongs' he grinned back, feeling quite happy that they could finally use their nicknames properly again, well, at least away from the _other _students.

'Oh yes, I most definitely want to be in the Great Hall on this _glorious winter morning_' he agreed in amusement.

'What have you done?' Remus asked him suspiciously.

'Well, you'll have to come down to the Great Hall if you want to find out.' He smirked.

'That doesn't sound good' Lily added in, shooting her boyfriend a disapproving look and Sirius quickly came to his best friend's defence.

'It's just a harmless prank.'

'A _Prank_.' She stated unhappily, shooting her boyfriend yet another disapproving look.

'Now now, Petal. It's nothing harmful, plus, James hardly gets to have any fun now so _really _you should class this as a Christmas present for him.'

'You're _sure _it won't cause anyone any harm?

'Well, it might cause harm to a few egos' he replied flippantly. 'But no physical harm, I promise'

'Well, lead the way' Remus sighed as he stood up and Sirius grinned wildly at his boyfriend, tugging the scarred young man's arm in the direction of the stairs and giving the others a look that suggested they should hurry up and follow him.

James quickly pulled the others along as well and the groups made their way out of Gryffindor Tower, with James and Sirius leading the group down towards the Great Hall.

'We snuck down last night to make sure it'd be set up, trust me, getting the charms accurate was pretty darn hard.' Sirius told them as they neared the Great Hall.

'Luckily, the two of us make a good double team!' James grinned, high fiving Sirius before stopping just short of the doors and adding, excitedly; 'we managed to adjust it so that it wouldn't start until we came in.'

'That sort of gives it away that it was one of you lot' Lily rolled her eyes.

'That's the general point, Petal' Sirius grinned.

'As Marauders, we fully intend to be acknowledged for our fine achievements.' James continued.

'You'll get acknowledged in the form of a detention' she sighed.

'It'll be worth it; just you wait and see those Slytherins faces.' Sirius grinned happily. This was going to be fantastic. Due to the rise in attacks recently, there was a lot more students staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays which meant more people to see their latest prank.

They walked into the Great Hall, where snow was falling lazily from the enchanted ceiling, and took seats quickly at the end of the room shortly before the Christmas Trees seemed to begin singing, which, of course, is not something that trees are usually capable of doing. Sirius continued to grin happily as the familiar tune of "O Christmas Tree" floated through the Great Hall with brand new lyrics.

'O Slytherins! O Slytherins!

The ones no one romances

O Slytherins! O Slytherins!

The ones no one romances

You wonder why no one comes near

It's cus you're bloody ugly dear

O Slytherins! O Slytherins!

The one no one romances'

'I do believe that is enough.' Professor McGonagall's voice was heard clearly through the ripples of laughter that floated through the Great Hall, as she waved her wand, stopping the trees from continuing to sing any more verses. 'I think I have a fair idea who the culprits behind this are.' She said sternly, fixing the Marauders with a stony expression.

'Minerva,' Professor Dumbledore interrupted. 'Perhaps, it is best that you choose to deal out an appropriate punishment, at a later date. It is Christmas after all, and, as such, I do not believe that anyone should be withdrawn from the festive activities.' Sirius may well have been wrong, but he could have sworn he'd seen amusement flicker in the aging wizard's eyes.

Professor McGonagall seemed to relent easier than usual, and Sirius immediately thanked Merlin that the Christmas period seemed to have put her in a calmer mood than she would normally be accustomed to.

'That was sheer genius!' Sirius exclaimed gleefully.

'How on earth did you manage to get _trees _to sing?' Lily asked looking incredibly surprised.

'That's all down to James really, he thought of it.' Sirius shrugged.

'Yeah, but you carried it out. You're better at charms than me.' James added in.

'Yeah but you're _far _better at Transfiguration.'

'That is why we make a good double team.' The bespectacled young man finished for him with a grin.

'I quite liked our lyrics; I much prefer them to the original ones.' Sirius smirked.

'As do I, another verse?'

'Why yes, that sounds splendid' he replied dramatically, and the two Marauders began loudly singing the verses which had so tragically been cut short before. Much to the displeasure of Professor McGonagall...

**Once again, another hectic week! But after Monday I will be free from all the busy schedule-ness, and will be able to update faster :)**

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	79. Chapter 79 Another Day Another Full Moon

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters **

'Okay,' James began, closing the dorm door behind him before flopping down onto Sirius', well actually it was Remus', mattress. 'I double checked and there is definitely going to be a party tonight in the Common Room after the Quidditch match.' Sirius sighed loudly at his friend's announcement, feeling incredibly frustrated. _Great_,he thought bitterly, _just what I bloody need._

'I'll have to deal with things on my own tonight then.' He said quietly.

'Don't be ridiculous, Sirius!' his best friend snapped somewhat harshly at him, his hazel eyes blazing in warning. 'You can't go alone; Remus has already said before that he wouldn't want any of us accompanying him on our own.'

'I don't have much choice James, I think people _might_ notice if there's a team member missing from the party.'

'Cus nobody will think it's strange that _you're _not there.' James replied, sarcasm oozing from him with every word.

'I don't tend to hang around at parties anyway,' he shrugged indifferently. 'I usually only show face and then bugger off, I'm not the most sociable of people, especially when everyone will most likely be drinking and become even more annoying than normal.'

'Well, you should show face at least. Come for a while.'

'And not be there before he changes? Don't be so bloody stupid.'

'But Sirius-'

'-There are no buts, James.' He silenced his friend quickly. 'I need to be there for him when he changes, and I don't care if people wonder where I am. I'm fairly good a lying when I need to, I'll think of something.'

'Okay, party aside, mate. D'you think you can handle the-' Sirius quickly shot his best friend a look that told him _not _to refer to Remus' transformed state as "the wolf" and James quickly changed tactics. '-I mean, do you think you can you handle him alone?'

'I won't take him out of the shack. It's too risky to try it on my own, I'll just have to be quick on my toes and tire him out a bit.'

'He's used to getting to roam outside now,' James pointed out. 'He'll be restless.'

'Quite likely.' He replied calmly.

'You don't seem bothered.'

'There's no point in worrying over something I can't avoid.' He shrugged.

'But you _can _avoid it, and more importantly, Remus would want you to avoid it. Hell, he's probably going to tell you not to come as soon as he finds out the party is definitely on.'

'I don't care what he says, I'm going regardless.'

'You don't realise that you could get hurt on your own, do you?'

'I'm not stupid, I know that I could get torn apart if Moony felt like it, I just don't think he will,' he replied honestly. 'But if I do then it's better than Remus tearing himself apart instead, he goes through enough pain as it is without inflicting more on himself.'

'You don't think it would pain him if he hurt you?' Damn, James certainly knew how to make him feel guilty.

'Like I said James, I don't think I'm going to get hurt. It'll be a bit harder to keep him in check, sure. But he won't hurt me any more than he would any other time.'

'I can't believe you're so flippant about this.'

'I can't believe after being friends with me this long you're _still _trying to convince me to change my mind on something. I will not change my mind on this James, end of discussion.'

'Fine,' the bespectacled young man sighed in defeat. 'Are you coming to the match?'

'I suppose so,' he replied awkwardly.

'You don't have to, you know.' The hazel eyed wizard smiled softly. 'I get that it's the one time when you can actually have some proper time alone with Remus, somewhere other than in the dorm.'

'I know, but, I'd feel bad if I wasn't there and rooting you on, mate' he admitted.

'Well,' James scratched the back of his head with a smile on his face. 'Why don't you do half and half then? You could hang out with Remus for a bit, and then you two can come and catch the end of the match.'

'I suppose so, I doubt Remus is really up for a full Quidditch match anyway, not with tonight being the full moon.'

'Well then, it's sorted you will turn up shortly before the end of the match, to play the supportive friend role. Remus will then go the Hospital Wing like usual, you will come and have a drink in the Common Room and then you can go down and meet him.'

'I agree with most of what you said,'

'Most?'

'I'm not drinking.'

'I was only talking one drink, mate'

'I know, but I need my senses at their best. Any drink at all is _not _a good idea when I'm spending the night with...well, in the Shrieking Shack.'

'Oh, yeah...I guess you're right, that was a stupid thought.' James admitted sheepishly. 'Well, I need to get heading off to the Quidditch Pitch, you have fun with that charming boyfriend of yours...whenever he escapes the clutches of my beautiful girlfriend that is.'

'There's nothing enjoyable about the day of the full moon, he feels terrible and it's horrible to have to see him like that.' He replied, sounding far bitterer than he'd intended.

'Sorry,' James winced. 'That was a bit insensitive.'

'A bit, I didn't mean to be that harsh though, it's just stressful, I mean you're James Potter so it's only natural that you would act like an insensitive git.' He teased.

'I resent that!'

'I resent having to have a best friend with such horrid hair.' He quipped.

'Git,'

'Ponce'

'I'm not-'

'A bloody ponce, yeah I get it, mate' he smirked. 'Now get moving before the entire Quidditch team hexes your arse for being late'

'Sir, yes Sir!' James shouted, giving a mock salute and exiting the dorm with a grin...

It was strange really, sitting beneath their favourite tree by the lake with nothing but the Marauders Map-just to double check that there was no one around-and their cloaks. With everyone at the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw they were free to sit, curled up together, without having to worry about being seen.

The two Marauders were currently sat facing towards the glistening lake; Sirius was propped up against the tree, his arms wrapped gently around the pale form of Remus Lupin who was curled up, resting his head against his boyfriend's chest and enjoying the peaceful silence that was rarely available to them at Hogwarts.

'You're sure James doesn't mind us not being there?' Remus asked hesitantly, from where he sat between Sirius' legs.

'I swear Remy, he's fine with it.' He replied soothingly.

'I hate not being able to be a proper friend because of...well, the whole full moon thing.'

'Don't be stupid, you _are _a proper friend, and a damn good one at that. It's not something you have any control over.'

'There's a party tonight after the match,' Remus commented somewhat sadly.

'Yeah, it'll be weird without the others but we'll be fine.' Sirius replied, placing a gentle kiss on his boyfriend's neck.

'We?'

'You don't seriously think I'd leave you alone, do you?' the scarred young man went instantly quiet, looking incredibly torn. They remained quiet for several minutes before Remus' voice finally broke their silence.

'I don't know Sirius...it could be dangerous, none of you have ever been alone before.'

'James was,' he mumbled awkwardly, remembering those few months of separation the year before.

'He had Peter,'

'That doesn't count for much, what the hell is a rat gonna do if things turn nasty?'

'But he was still there to go and get help if needed.'

'He wouldn't ever have gotten back quick enough to avoid any _real _damage happening anyway.'

'Reminding me about possible damage isn't the best way to go about trying to come with me tonight.'

'It's not up for questioning anyway, I'm coming and that's that.'

'It's not your choice to make.' Remus snapped, twisting round to face him, his eyes worried and annoyed but his face covered in obvious signs of exhaustion.

'I know that, but as soon as you agreed to let me come the first time that was any future decisions finished. I'm not gonna let you tear yourself apart.'

'I don't want to hurt you,'

'I honestly don't think you will Remus, and I'm not just saying that. I wouldn't lie to you.' He told the other firmly, keeping eye contact and reaching out a hand to cup the young man's face.

'No but you'd still go anyway,' Remus sighed, eyes closing momentarily and then looking directly up into his eyes once more.

'Most likely,' Sirius smiled before pressing his lips to Remus' softly, both their eyes fluttering closed once more as they melted into the kiss. As much as Remus always reminded the group that he wasn't going to break when the full moon was close, Sirius knew that the pale young man appreciated his gentler side in the run up to his transformations. It was such a strange mixture of things that happened shortly before Remus' transformations; he would be more likely to underestimate his own strength and his calm disposure would slip ever so slightly, making him more likely to act instinctively. Yet, at the same time he would begin to ache and pale, making him see almost fragile. It has always struck Sirius as incredibly odd that his boyfriend could be pained and weak looking whilst also having even greater reflexes and strength than usual. In all honesty, it all seemed rather oxymoronic to him at times.

'We should get moving,' Remus began quietly.

'Yeah?' Sirius asked, not really wanting to move from his current position.

'Yes, I doubt the match will last much longer, you know. We should get going if we want to catch the end of it.'

'It's not like it's the last match of the year.' Sirius sighed. 'I don't really feel like going to the match and having to share you with the others.' He added with a cheeky smirk.

'Hmm, we could stay here a little longer, I suppose...' Remus trailed off, and Sirius could tell that his boyfriend was in no mood to go anywhere right now; his eyes fluttering shut and opening again every few seconds in tiredness. He quickly shifted to allow Remus a comfier position and the pale young man moved in a slow motion, making himself comfier against him, shivering slightly as he always did closer to the full moon. Smiling sadly at the young man in his arms he reached a hand out to grab his cloak, which had been carelessly dumped on arrival, and placed it over the two of them to try and warm the paler young man up slightly.

'You shouldn't let me get comfy Siri; I won't want to move for the match.'

'Then don't, I'll keep an eye on the map and make sure no one is coming our way, and _you _just close your eyes and have a short nap.'

'I'm not a toddler,' Remus chuckled into his chest and Sirius laughed lightly into the other young man's hair.

'Maybe not, but you're exhausted so just sleep for a bit if you need to.'

'You don't mind?'

'If I did I wouldn't have suggested it, I'm far too thoughtless to play those kinds of games Remy.'

'You're not thoughtless; you're the most thoughtful person I know.' Remus mumbled quietly, his eyes already shut, and without another word he drifted off to sleep, leaving Sirius to watch the map carefully, with the occasional glance towards his boyfriend's pale, scarred face. Wishing that there was some sort of way he could prevent the scarred young man from ever having to transform again...

'As expected my good man, we Gryffindors succeeded in defeating our Ravenclaw foes. We swooped, dived, and-'

'-Won?' Sirius laughed half-heartedly at his best friend's overenthusiastic story telling.

'Pretty much,' Lily added in with a light laugh of her own, reaching Sirius who had previously been sitting alone beside the window as everyone else arrived. 'You didn't miss much; it was pretty much like every other Quidditch match at this school.' She added in a lower voice, to avoid a passionate rant from James.

'Good to know,' he smiled warmly at her as James made his way over to where people had set up food and drink for their celebration.

'Is there any way I can get out of staying here during the party?' she laughed.

'I don't know, but if McGonagall finds out that the Head Boy and Head Girl were _both _at the party, she'll faint in horror.' He joked.

'I tried to tell James that we could get in a _lot _of trouble for letting it happen, but you know what he's like.'

'Once he's got an idea in his head he won't let it go.' Sirius agreed with an eye roll.

'Yes, how much longer are you staying?'

'Well, it's still a good while before I _need _to go,' he mumbled quietly so only the redhead could hear his voice. 'But I'd like to go down as soon as I can anyway, basically I'll head down, wait for them to arrive and _her _to leave. I wouldn't want him sitting on his own, it scares him, as much as he likes to pretend that he's used to it, it still terrifies him...waiting for it to happen.' He trailed off worriedly, his eyes darting back out to the darkening sky.

'There's really no one less deserving of his fate,' Lily sighed, her voice incredibly quiet so that only he could hear. 'He's so...'

'Remus,' he suggested with a sad smile. 'And Remus deserves to spend his entire life without suffering; I'd take the pain for him if I could.'

'You don't know what you're saying, Sirius.'

'I've been there when it happens; I know exactly what I'm saying. He's suffered enough times, I'd be willing to suffer it if I could...he deserves a break.'

'What are you two sulking about for?' interrupted a rather annoying voice, one he recognised, unfortunately.

'Well Mary, I'm depressed because I've unfortunately fallen in love with Snape and he doesn't appreciate me and my hygienic ways' Sirius replied sarcastically.

'No need to be snippy.' She replied unhappily. 'Where's the other one? Remus?'

'Library,' Sirius shrugged. 'He's 'bout the only person with the right idea around here, if you ask me. This _party_ is going to a ridiculous.' He found himself feeling incredibly grateful that he was able to sound believable under pressure.

'Well, you could always go somewhere else...I'd be happy to accompany you if you wanted to go for a walk or something.' The girl suggested shamelessly.

'I'm alright thanks, I think I'd rather play gobstones with some Slytherins.' He replied, hoping that she'd get the hint and leave soon.

'Now, _why _do you want me to go away? Planning on leaving perhaps?' Sirius immediately felt himself tense and she must have noticed because she was now smirking triumphantly.

'I'm not surprised he'd want to leave when you're here, hanging around him like a bad smell.' Lily replied haughtily and Mary's eyes widened almost comically. 'Actually, I'm not sure I like the guests, fancy going somewhere else, Sirius?' Sirius had honestly never been so grateful for Lily's quick thinking than at that specific moment.

'Yeah, sounds great.' He replied quickly and turned to look over to where James was currently getting drinks for himself and Lily.

'James, we're gonna go for a walk, okay?' he shouted indicating himself and Lily. James looked incredibly confused but nodded all the same, his hazel eyes locking onto Mary somewhat suspiciously.

Sirius made a quick dash upstairs; grabbing his cloak, a bar of chocolate and the large blue blanket he'd practically claimed as his since going to James' house two summers previous. He quickly stuffed the blanket in his cloak, to hide it from view, and then made his way downstairs once more, grabbing Lily quickly on his way out.

'How are you gonna explain coming back without me?' he asked her once they had left Gryffindor Tower.

'I won't go back.'

'What?'

'I'll just stay in the Room of Requirement for the night. I can get some quiet studying done, which I hardly ever have time for thanks to Head Girl duties and _your _best friend.'

'Don't complain, Petal. You wanted him.'

'I know; he's just too distracting sometimes.'

'Oh, Prongs pulling his _sexy_ poses?' Sirius snorted and received a hit to the back of his head for his comment.

'James is handsome.'

'You've gotta say that, he's your boyfriend.' He smirked, expertly dodging a second hit. 'James will probably have a fit when you don't come back.' He laughed. 'He'll think you've been kidnapped by pirates, riding hippogriffs into the sunset, in the hopes that you will marry their centaur counterparts' ruler. The great king of the spider-human hybrids'

'Do you realise how _completely _insane you sound at times,' the green eyed witch laughed clearly.

'Yes and the best part is that you probably couldn't retell that even if you tried.'

'Probably not,' she admitted as they reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. 'You didn't have to walk me all the way here, you know.'

'I'd rather none of my friends were walking around on their own at nights. Not with the type of scum that are in Slytherin right now, they could be lurking anywhere.'

'You sound incredibly paranoid.'

'Better to be paranoid and on your guard than be completely unprepared if there's an attack.'

'Are you sure you don't wanna become an Auror?' she teased.

'Definitely, I spent my life growing up with ridiculous, pure-blooded psychopaths, hell bent on being as dark as they can manage. I don't really want to spend my life looking for similar people.' He replied shortly.

'Okay' the redhead mumbled unsurely.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to sound harsh...I just need to get going, okay.'

'Okay, I'll see you tomorrow.' She smiled, giving him a quick hug and a reassuring smile, and then he turned and headed off to the Shrieking Shack...

'Remy?' he called as he made his way to the usual room.

'You came,' the scarred young man smiled weakly.

'I told you I would.'

'Yes, but I figured it might be a harder task than anticipated, to try and escape from the party.'

'My lovely redheaded flower helped me escape the clutches of the Gryffindors.' He joked lightly as he sat down next to his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him lovingly.

'I think you'll find she's James' flower not yours.' Remus chuckled in return.

'And I think _you'll _find that she'd hex both of us for talking about her as if she was an object.'

'Quite likely,' the pale young man smiled half-heartedly. 'There's not much time left...'

'I know; Pomfrey was a bit later leaving you tonight, huh?'

'Yes, if I didn't know any better I'd say she was getting suspicious.'

'Hmm, that's not good...'

'No, probably not'

'Well, don't go worrying about it. All that matters right now-'

'-Is that the fabulous Wormtail and Prongs have arrived.' James grinned suddenly, the invisibility cloak falling to the floor as he appeared unexpectedly with the fourth Marauder by his side.

'What? I thought you two weren't coming.' Remus asked looking just as surprised as Sirius felt.

'Well, it's impossible to have fun at the party, not knowing that you two were here. What's a Marauder to do?'

'But...won't people be suspicious?' Remus asked unsurely.

'Nah, they'll think the five of us have left to have our own miniature party.'

'Five of us?'

'Yeah, Lily disappeared when Sirius did.' James supplied before turning to face Sirius. 'Where is she actually? I couldn't spot her on the Map anywhere.'

'Room of Requirement, the girl's a life saver. I would never have escaped, without being followed, if it wasn't for her.'

'Being followed?' Remus interrupted worriedly.

'Yeah, Mary was hanging around but Lily asked me if I wanted to _go for a walk_ so I got away.'

'Oh, okay.' Remus mumbled quietly and Sirius groaned in annoyance.

'Mary's just being annoying; she'll back off soon enough.'

'I hope so; it's getting a bit much.' James laughed as he sat down next to Remus. 'So how long until it starts then?'

'I'm not sure exactly, I'd say about fifteen minutes, thereabouts.'

'Cool...well, not _cool_ obliviously but, you know what I mean, right?'

'I understand,' Remus smiled understandingly. 'You can still leave and go back the party if you want,' he added but James shook his head firmly at his words.

'No, I was stupid to even think about staying at the party. Marauders come first, no matter what.' The black haired declared loyally.

'I'm glad you're here, mate' Sirius smiled, clapping the bespectacled young man on the shoulder in appreciation.

'We'll head downstairs,' James said softly, giving Remus a weak but encouraging smile. 'See you two soon,'

'Sure thing James,' Sirius replied and watched as the two Marauders retreated back down the stairs to wait for Remus' transformation to start.

'You have no idea how relieved I am that you're not doing this on your own now.' Remus whispered, his shoulders tightening a slight bit in tension as he spoke. He could see that it wouldn't be much longer and quickly pulled his boyfriend into his arms, placing soft kisses on his scarred neck.

The transformation would bet starting soon and until then Sirius wanted to bring Remus as much comfort as humanly possible.

'I'll be right here when you wake up, Remy. I'll always be here for you...I promise.'

**The new trailer for Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows is out :O and it's FANTASTIC! and that not even my just by my over obsessive-harry potter-fan standards :P view it at .com **

**Okay, so it's 1:40 AM right now where I am :P so yeah, feeling a bit knackered now so I will leave the review replies until I've slept :) hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

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**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

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	80. Chapter 80 A Very Stupid Mistake

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

**'**Morning,' Sirius yawned, turning over to curl into Remus' side and smiling sleepily.

'Good Morning,' Remus replied with a smile and Sirius soon felt his boyfriend's lips brushing softly against his own, confirming that, yes, it certainly was a good morning.

'Hmm, I think that is definitely a good way to wake up.' Sirius smiled, wrapping an arm around Remus' neck and pulling him in for a second kiss. Their kiss was slow and lazy; both young men still half asleep as they pulled each other closer.

'You guys are really lucky, you know that?' James called across the dormitory and Sirius soon found that Remus had pulled back, blushing slightly, having clearly not realised that their friend was already awake. Which, to be fair, was very shocking considering that Sirius usually woke up their messy haired dorm mate.

'Oh really, in what way? I hope you're not trying to drop hints that you want to steal my Remy away.' Sirius found himself laughing lightly, his eyes fluttering shut and his lips tugging, without meaning to, into a smile.

'Well, you get to share a bed and stuff.' James explained, propping himself up on his elbows thoughtfully. 'I'd love to wake up in the morning and have Lily lying beside me.'

'How scandalous Prongs, I think the world may have lost respect for you for wanting such things.' He teased his best friend lightly.

'That's not fair, how come it's okay for you to do it then? What about people's respect for you?'

'I'm homosexual Prongs; most people don't have respect for me anyway.' He replied half jokingly, his tone holding a slight bitter edge to it. 'Either that or they'd only pretend to.'

'That's a stupid comment Padfoot, nobody _knows _so, therefore, everyone still has respect for you.'

'Nah, I'm pretty much an arrogant arsehole in most people's opinions. There's a difference between having people's respect and just having people be nice to hopefully avoid being pranked.

'Well, isn't this a cheerful conversation first thing in the morning.' Remus added in sarcastically and Sirius couldn't help but grin in amusement.

'Well, if stag-man didn't interrupt our morning kissing session then we wouldn't have been having the conversation, so really, it's entirely his fault.'

'Stag-man?' James laughed from his bed, running a hand through his hair as he spoke.

'Yeah, we could be a double team Prongs, the ultimate superheroes; Super-Sirius and Stag-Man.' He joked with a smirk.

'You made _me _sound like the side-kick Padfoot.'

'You are,'

'No Pads, I think you'll find that we've already had this conversation, and _you _agreed that _you _were the side-kick.'

'I deny ever having that conversation.'

'Which conversation?'

'The one where I admitted to being your side-kick.'

'Ha!' James shouted triumphantly, punching the air gleefully. 'You just admitted that the conversation existed!' the bespectacled young man pointed out happily.

'Shit, didn't see that one coming. Dammit Prongs, it's too early in the morning for your tricks.'

'You're only saying that because you got beat by my amazing brain powers.'

'Wow it must be _really _early, considering I got beat by _your _practically nonexistent brain.' He snorted in amusement.

'Git,'

'Ponce'

'I'm not-'

'-Have you two not had this argument enough times already?' Peter piped in unexpectedly, having woken up during their conversation.

'What the whole, git and ponce debate?' Remus enquired whilst his lips quirked into an amused smile.

'Well, if he'd just admit that he was a ponce then we wouldn't have to debate it so often.' Sirius smirked.

'I'm not going to argue with you Sirius,' James stated firmly, holding his head up in what Sirius supposed was meant to be a proud manner.

'Oh really?'

'Yes, I'm going to be the bigger man, the _mature _person.' The messy haired youth stated firmly as he began pulling on clean clothes. Sirius could only gape at his friend in shock, surely James wasn't actually going to go and _mature _on him?

The other Marauders all began moving from their beds, pulling on their clothes tiredly and getting ready to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast before their Hogsmeade trip. It took them a fair while, but eventually the group were all dressed and ready to leave, James tugging Sirius' arm to make him slow down and walk beside him, despite Remus' slightly suspicious glances. The pale young man was clearly thinking they were up to something, and Sirius immediately wondered what James was going to say, as they hung back.

'What?' he asked with a grin.

'I'm not a bloody ponce' James smirked back and Sirius let out a loud bark of laughter. He should have known that James would never change, and Sirius was perfectly content to let James pretend to the others that he was maturing now...

'I'm really nervous.' Sirius looked up, sighing loudly in mock annoyance as his best friend frantically tried to fix his hair...again. They were currently in their dormitory. Once again, one might add, and Sirius was talking to James in boredom as the black haired youth prepared himself for their Hogsmeade trip.

'Prongs, you've been going out with Lily for, I dunno, five months or something? Don't you think you're being a tad ridiculous?'

'Yeah, I probably am, but this is our first date and I want to do it properly.'

'No Prongs, it's not, you got together because of a date,' Sirius reminded him with an eye roll.

'But it's different, Pads. This time we're going out for a _proper _date...you know, in _public_. I have to make sure I don't look silly, or show her up or-'

'-panic so much that you sound like a ponce?'

'Shut up,' James huffed loudly, looked incredibly unhappy at the comment, his hazel eyes containing an amount of worry that was clearly unnecessary.

'Oh calm down Prongs, honestly. She's been your girlfriend for five months; I don't think she's expecting you to be perfect. She knows you too well now to be that delusional.' He teased his friend happily.

'Are you implying that I am not perfect in every possible way?' James cried theatrically, clearly throwing himself into humour to cover his nerves a little.

'I am merely suggesting that you're imperfections make you all the more fascinating to the red-haired maiden.' Sirius replied with a grin.

'So, what are you doing then?'

'What do you mean?'

'Today, what are you doing?'

'Um...going to Hogsmeade.' He had meant to sound certain but in all honesty; it had ended up sounding more like a question.

'Padfoot!' James sighed, sounding frustrated, as he turned to face him. His hazel eyes were focusing directly on him. 'It's Valentine's day.' He said pointedly.

'And?'

'And, you're supposed to do something with the one you love, Merlin Pads; did you even get him anything?'

'One; we don't do that mushy crap, Two; I'm going to Hogsmeade with him anyway-'

'-You _always _go to Hogsmeade with him, it doesn't make it romantic.'

'And three; I can't bloody well take him on date, can I? Everywhere will be _incredibly_ full and funnily enough, I think we'd stand out a fair bit.'

'Come on Pads, you've gotta _try_. You've been together two and half _years_, and you have _still _never been on an actual date with him. It's ridiculous.'

'Well I'm terribly sorry Prongs, but we aren't like every other couple. We can't hold hands, or act mushy, or go on dates in public like you and the perfect Lily bloody Evans okay. Otherwise the whole _secret relationship _thing would be blown, you dolt.'

'So you won't go on a date then?' the bespectacled youth asked disbelievingly.

'Probably not,'

'Why not?' James demanded.

'BECAUSE _JAMES_, WE'RE NOT LIKE YOU! YOU GO OUT WITH YOU'RE PERFECT _BLOODY _GIRLFRIEND, AND DO WHATEVER IT IS THAT _NORMAL _COUPLES GET TO DO AND NOBODY GIVES A SHIT. IF I GO OUT THERE WITH REMUS IT'S AN _ENTIRELY _DIFFERENT SITUATION. THE WORLD IS NOT FULL OF UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE, IT'S FULL OF ARSEHOLES WHO, FOR SOME FUCKED UP REASON, THINK THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO DECIDE WHO I SHOULD OR SHOULDN'T LOVE. I'M _TERRIBLY_ SORRY IF THAT CAN'T BE COMPREHENDED IN JAMESLAND OR WHEREEVER THE FUCK YOUR HEAD'S AT, BUT THAT'S THE WAY IT IS!'

'Pads, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to set you off, mate.'

'Whatever James, I can't do this right now. Have fun on your fucking date.' And with that he stormed straight out of the dorms and down the stairs, completely ignoring the looks of confusion that were sent in his direction from the other two Marauders as he reached the mostly empty Common Room, and sat down in front of the fire, staring into the flames and concentrating entirely on them, trying to relax his breathing.

He knew that James hadn't meant to push his buttons but he just couldn't stand James' view of the world being this big, happy and completely accepting place. It was, in Sirius' opinion, an incredibly childish way to view the world, especially with the wizarding world being in it's current state.

'What's going on?' Peter asked worriedly. 'We couldn't hear what was actually being said but, we heard your voice, you were shouting.'

'It doesn't matter.' He replied shortly.

'Well, clearly it does matter to you otherwise you wouldn't have shouted and stormed out of the dorms and away from your _best friend_.'

'Drop it.'

'But-'

'Leave him Peter,' Remus added calmly, and Sirius could feel the pale young man's eyes on him, studying him with worry. 'If he wanted to tell us about it he would.'

It was then that Lily appeared at the bottom of the stairs, having clearly put in a little more effort than normal when getting ready. She quickly made her way over to them, smiling happily but stopped when she saw Sirius' expression.

'What's wrong?'

'Leave him Lily,' Peter said huffily, clearly mocking Remus' earlier words and tone, and Sirius felt his irritation grow further.

'Shut up Pete, you just sounded like a complete arsehole.' He said harshly.

'Um, have I missed something?' the redhead asked worriedly.

'We had words,' James said quietly from behind her and the whole group, even Sirius, turned to look at the bespectacled young man who had finally made his appearance. 'or rather, I said something he didn't like and he shouted.'

'About?' she asked worriedly.

'It doesn't matter,' he told her before turning to Sirius. 'All that matters is...I'm sorry, mate. I shouldn't have pushed it.'

'Whatever James,' he sighed.

'Are we okay?' and Sirius was surprised to hear genuine sadness in his best friend's voice, but he couldn't brush off his irritation.

'Yeah we're fine.' He replied shortly, knowing full well that his tone suggested otherwise.

'So, are we all ready to go then?' Remus asked hopefully, and Sirius could tell that he was just trying to break the awkward tension.

'I don't really feel in the mood,' he mumbled.

'What? You were all set for going earlier.' Remus reminded him, his forehead creasing slightly in worry. 'You said that you wanted to get some more Sugar Quills.'

'Yeah but I can do that anytime.' He shrugged half-heartedly.

'Oh, well I suppose I don't really need anything anyway.'

'Don't be silly Remus.' He replied kindly. 'Go have fun, you've still got Pete, plus I'm sure you'll have fun anyway. There'll be lots of ditzy couples to laugh at.' Remus was looking incredibly unsure, but he seemed to understand that Sirius didn't really want them all hanging around.

'Okay, well, I can get you some Sugar Quills if you want.' The pale young man sighed; his shoulders seemed to slouch slightly in apparent disappointment.

'You don't have to.' He mumbled, facing the fire once more, he knew if he looked into Remus' eyes, if he saw the hurt expression that he knew would be in them, then he would be very likely to break and end up going to Hogsmeade, which he _really _didn't want to do right now.

'It's fine.'

'If you're sure.' The room seemed to be growing tenser by the second and Sirius wanted desperately to hug Remus close to him, and gain as much comfort as humanly possible from his boyfriend's embrace.

'I'll see you later then,'

'Yeah...'

'Bye Sirius,' Lily called over to him as she pulled the others towards the Portrait Hole, but her expression was disapproving and he got the distinct feeling that she would be having words with him later on.

He groaned loudly as soon as they left, causing the few students – who were mostly below third year – to cast him wary glances.

'Shit,' he muttered angrily at himself, he'd let Remus down now and he felt incredibly guilty. He was avoiding his own boyfriend on Valentine's Day, it was ridiculous. But he couldn't help but feel stung by his miniature argument with James. They were best friends, yeah, but the bespectacled young man just didn't seem to understand how hard it was to have a relationship, a bloody good one at that, and have to keep it a secret from everyone. Of course, James' argument would always be that they didn't _have _to; once again proving that James really underestimated how big a deal it was.

He could feel curious eyes on him from all over the Common Room and immediately headed for the stairs, wanting nothing more than to return to his bed and wallow in his own, ridiculously pointless, self pity. As soon as he reached the dorm he slammed the door shut behind him with a _bang_, and then immediately headed forward to lie on the bed he always shared with Remus, burying his face into the pillow and inhaling _his _Remy's comforting scent.

It wasn't as if he'd wanted to stay cooped up all day and avoid his own bloody boyfriend. But, at the same time, he knew that it would only anger him further to go to Hogsmeade and see everyone else on their dates. It was stupid that he could love Remus _so _much and yet if they were to on a date in front of everyone then they would be _very _harshly judged. The thing that annoyed Sirius most was that he _knew _that there would be plenty of people on dates that didn't give a shit about each other, and yet nobody would bat an eyelid at _them._ The only way he could think to describe it was that the world was full of complete and utter ignorant morons.

It was a good fifteen or twenty minutes later when a _knock _sounded on the dormitory door and Sirius looked up in surprise. He wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone, or be asked out by some silly midget as a dare. Reaching the doorway he pulled back the door, wishing that he would just be left alone, and was truly agitated at who he saw in the doorway.

'Hi,' Mary smiled somewhat warily, clearly unsure whether he would shout at her in his current mood. 'I sort of, well, overheard things in the Common Room.' She told him quietly. 'I figured you could probably do with some company, you know, since you had an argument with James.'

Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but realised quickly that he had nothing to say. Unfortunately Mary seemed to have taken this as encouragement and walked straight into the dormitory, glancing around at her new surroundings with a keen eye.

'Um...which one's yours?' she asked awkwardly, indicating the beds. Sirius very nearly nodded towards Remus' bed before catching himself and nodding warily to the bed that he was _supposed _to occupy. Mary smiled happily and moved forward and quickly sat down on his bed, smiling up at him flirtatiously.

'Honestly Sirius, how do you do it?' she asked with an annoying laugh that was half way to being a giggle. 'I swear you're bed looks like it's never been slept in.' Sirius had to bite down a snippy retort, remembering how many times Remus had told him off for being snippy with people, especially members of their own house.

But Sirius didn't move an inch from where he stood, not even bothering to close the door, in hopes that she would realise she wasn't wanted.

'So, what do you want?' he asked bluntly.

'I was just checking up on you, you seemed really upset downstairs. They looked worried you know, Lily and Remus.'

'Yeah, well, we're close.' He shrugged. 'I'd worry if one of them decided to sulk like I was.' He instantly realised his mistake as she took this to mean that he wanted to talk to her.

'Yeah, you guys always did seem really close, and Lily fitted in quite easily, didn't she?' Sirius couldn't help but snort slightly at her words; Lily's introduction into their group had definitely _not_ been a particularly enjoyable experience; hell, at the time he hadn't been able to stand the green-eyes witch, who he now cared deeply for.

'Look, Mary.' He sighed and was only annoyed further when locked eyes with him flirtatiously, and he kept his eyes on her solely to prove that she would not win over him in any way, shape or form.

'Yes? She smiled sweetly, too sweetly in fact.

'I don't really feel like talking right now.' He said simply, but before he could even register the sheer _stupidity_ of his own words, or what someone like _Mary Macdonald _would take it to mean, it was already too late. She had bounded up to him quickly and pulled him, quite forcefully, into an unwanted kiss, her tongue pushing into his mouth before he could even register what was happening. For a split moment it was like an outer-body experience, it was like he could see what was happening but he was completely unresponsive. He didn't pull her closer, but neither did he push her away. If only he'd closed the bloody door he would have had some sort of alert to a person entering the dorm.

'Siri, James told me what was said between the two of you and I thought I should come-' but the unexpected arrival trailed off in shock, into an almost deadly silence.

Coming to his senses, Sirius quickly pulled away from the bumptious young woman, stepping back in horror as he realised how incredibly bad this situation looked. His heart rate sped up almost instantly in panic, why the hell hadn't he pulled away sooner? Standing in the doorway was Remus Lupin, looking _incredibly_ hurt.

'Remy-'

**Chapter 80 - wow this has got long! I know, I'm just plain cruel. I've received so many comments recently about how sweet and caring a boyfriend Sirius is and then I go and throw this in...but, to be fair, he didn't mean to mess up – it's evil Mary's fault *points finger at Mary accusingly* don't blame me, I've been taken over by evil plot bunnies :P and then, of course, I had to be even worse and left it unfinished 'til the next chapter. **

**Once again, I am posting this chapter at a ridiculous time - it's Two O'Clock in the morning here! So...yeah, once again I gotta say, I'll reply to reviews in the morning :P sorry for any ****inconveniences!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

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**and I'd like to say a thankyou to Tishu for reviewing an earlier chapter! I really appreciate the effort :)**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviers! ILY people :)**

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	81. Chapter 81 Armour, Chocolate and Remus

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Don't stop on my account.' Were the only words that had been spoken by Remus Lupin. To any outsider, who knew little about Remus, the pale young man had been perfectly composed and untroubled. But Sirius knew better, Remus' expression had become instantly guarded and emotionless. But his face was moving very slightly, which Sirius knew meant he was tracing his tongue along the inner side of his teeth, something Sirius knew Remus did when he was trying to bite back a harsh, sarcastic or snippy comment. Before Sirius could say much else, Remus had turned and headed straight back down the stairs with another word, his posture determinedly straight, and Sirius could tell he was trying to hold in his emotions.

Now, well...now Sirius was sitting on the bed he normally shared with Remus, his hands cradling his head and fingers pressing into his skin painfully. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. Sure, he'd been shocked by Mary's sudden kiss, but he couldn't believe he'd simply froze and done nothing. He should have pulled away instantly, but instead he had just stood there, completely unmoving like he'd been bloody well petrified or something.

He had no idea what to do. Remus had pretty much fled upon seeing them, and the worst part was, he hadn't even followed him. Mary had giggled and laughed, exclaiming "well, that was awkward" and had moved towards him as if she expected them to continue. Once again his worry about people finding out had stopped him from doing what he should have done. He should have followed Remus and explained what had happened, but he hadn't. He'd known that if he did then it would have looked strange. Friends didn't chase after each other after seeing such things. Friends would laugh, toss jokes back and forth and would talk about things later. If he'd chosen to go running off after Remus then Mary would have clicked, and they would have become Hogwarts latest gossip.

'Stupid fucking idiot.' He muttered to himself angrily. After telling Mary he wasn't interested, and practically throwing her out of the dormitory, he had waited a short while and then went out looking for Remus. The problem being that James Potter, bad timing extraordinaire, had the Marauders' Map with him. So, Sirius had thoroughly searched through the castle and had returned to the dormitory several hours later without finding his – most likely angry and upset – boyfriend.

'Who's an idiot?' asked a rather happy voice, and Sirius turned to see James and Lily walking through the door, hand in hand and looking incredibly relaxed.

'I am,' he muttered bitterly. 'Where's Pete?' he didn't really care, but he could hear the bitterness in his own voice and wanted something else to talk about.

'Well, I managed to get him a date with some girl in the year below us, Gryffindor too. I think all her friends had dates and she didn't, she seemed a bit desperate really and we wanted time alone so...' the bespectacled young man shrugged pleasantly and sat down on his bed, looking around curiously.

'Where's Remus?' Lily piped up, whilst sitting down beside James and practically using him as a pillow.

'I don't know.' He replied quietly, refusing to meet their eyes. He couldn't even begin to explain how ashamed he felt; thinking of his Remy looking so hurt, and it had all been because of him.

'What d'you mean you don't know?' James laughed. 'You two playing hide and seek?'

'They're not five year olds, James.' The redhead laughed back, and Sirius decided it was best not to mention that he and James often played hide and seek before the full moon to fill up their time before heading to the Shrieking Shack.

'What's the prize for the winner?' James continued suggestively and Lily hit him playfully over the head. James smirked in his direction clearly waiting for his usual bark of laughter or a witty retort, but Sirius couldn't bring himself to smile back.

'What's wrong?' James asked worriedly and Sirius bit uncomfortably on the inside of his mouth, unsure what to say.

'Sirius, where's Remus?' the redhead asked, her brow creasing with worry as she spoke.

'He ran off...I fucked up.' He whispered guiltily.

'What did you do?' Lily asked softly, clearly thinking they'd had some silly tiff. But not James, no, _his_ reaction was entirely different. His best friend's usually cheerful hazel eyes were suddenly narrowed.

'What did you do?' the bespectacled young man asked somewhat harshly.

'James!' the redhead reprimanded in surprise.

'Well,' he continued, his eyes never leaving Sirius. 'What could you possibly have done that would make _Remus _run off? It must have been pretty bad to upset him that much.' Sirius felt even worse than before, upon hearing James' unquestionable display of loyalty towards his friend.

'I...well...I came up here after you guys left, right?'

'Right,' James nodded tensely.

'And then, well, Mary came up trying to worm her way in like usual...and well, Remus came back up here after talking to you.' He added, nodding towards James. 'And, well...when he walked in shewassortofkissingme.

'What?' Lily asked, looking highly confused at his rush of words, but the look of complete and utter shock on James' face was enough to prove to Sirius that James had understood perfectly.

'SORT OF? SHE EITHER WAS OR WASN'T, SIRIUS!

'It wasn't deliberate! I'd never do that to Remus, he just walked in at the wrong time...I hadn't had a chance to pull away-'

'-HADN'T HAD A CHANCE! HOW HARD CAN IT BE FOR YOU TO JUST PULL STOP.'

'You don't get it James! I just froze and-'

'-AND LET HER KISS YOU? MERLIN SIRIUS, HOW FUCKING IDIOTIC CAN YOU BE?'

'I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS GOING TO BLOODY WELL APPEAR IN THE MIDDLE OF IT, DID I?'

'THE MIDDLE OF IT...HOW LONG WAS IT?'

'THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT JAMES, DAMMIT, WILL YOU SHUT UP AND BLOODY WELL LISTEN TO ME?' Sirius had definitely not expected what had happened next. For the first time since he had met his best friend, James punched him. He actually punched him, and he certainly hadn't held back.

'JAMES!' Lily shrieked in horror, as James straightened up. The bespectacled young man suddenly seemed calmer, as if he had vented his frustration now and had returned to normal.

'_You, _Sirius Black are a complete and utter idiot.' James informed him.

'I know, and I deserved that.' He groaned and gently touched his tender jaw. 'James I've fucked up, mate. I don't know what to do.'

'Wait a minute!' Lily interrupted. 'So...you and Mary kissed?'

'No, well yeah...kind of. She kissed me and I didn't pull away straight away cus it was unexpected and-'

'-And you invited her in the dorm in the first place?' the green eyed witch accused, her eyes suddenly looking fiercely protective now that she knew why Remus was upset.

'I didn't mean to! She just walked in, the bloody tart. I told her I didn't want to talk to her, and she took it as an invite to start bloody kissing me.'

'With or without?' Lily asked.

'With or without what?'

'Tongue,' she replied rolling her eyes at him.

'Lily!' James exclaimed looking positively embarrassed for him.

'With, I guess' and Lily's eyes narrowed further. 'It's not I invited her to, she just kind of...stuck it in.' He cringed slightly as his description and saw Lily's eyes were lit with several different emotions, a few of which quite frightened Sirius, if he was to be entirely honest with himself.

'That's a good thing though, right?' James added, clearly hoping to avoid Lily hexing his best friend.

'How, exactly, could that be classed as a good thing?' she asked him haughtily.

'Cus then its just silly stuff right. Half of Hogwarts have had their tongues down each other's throats. If it was without then it'd be more serious right? Cus they wouldn't be trying to prove anything.'

'That's a strange logic.' The redhead commented.

'But it's true right? I mean, Sirius gives Remus lots of simple kisses, you know...just sweet kisses, tender or whatnot.' James had a slightly pink tinge to his cheeks now, which was quite unusual for the messy haired youth. He was clearly awkward at describing this, as well as the fact that he admitting to noticing in the first place.

'What?'

'Well, when people aren't serious about each other then they don't have as much time for all that mush.'

'You were doing well until you used the word mush, mate' Sirius chuckled weakly, nodding towards Lily who looked unimpressed.

'Yeah well-'

'-enough!' Lily told them both firmly. 'Instead of talking about the sentiments behind kisses, why don't you try _finding _Remus? I can't believe you've just been sat here all this time.'

'I wasn't!' Sirius defended himself unhappily. 'I looked all over the place, but I couldn't find him _anywhere_.'

'Why didn't you just-' James began but Sirius was quick to cut him off.

'-_You _have the bloody map! You took it the other day when you went for your lovely night time stroll with the charming Miss Evans.'

'Yeah, but I gave it to Pete yesterday when he went wandering off to the Kitchens, or wherever it was that he went.'

'You're fucking joking.' Sirius groaned in disbelief, he couldn't believe his bad luck. He'd been sat here most of the afternoon, frustrated beyond explanation, and the Map had been in the room with him all along. Rushing forward to Pete's bed, he moved in front of the young man's bedside cabinet and pulled open the little drawer at the top. Sure enough, right at the top of the drawer, was the Marauders' Map.

He suddenly found himself laughing hysterically, clutching at his side with one hand whilst the other clutched his side.

'Sirius, what on earth are you laughing at?' Lily asked looking confused.

'I have no fucking idea, Petal. I think, maybe, I'm laughing because the situation is insane, and if I don't laugh I might just have a nervous breakdown.'

'Um...okay' she replied unsurely, her face showing clear signs of worry.

Quickly moving towards his and Remus' shared bed, he threw himself down and opened the Map up, spreading it out in front of him and beginning to search for a label that would read "_Remus Lupin"_. Without having to ask him, James had made his way over, his eyes also searching for the label. They had an unspoken agreement that, whenever they were searching for something on the Map, Sirius would always search the left side of the map and James would always search the right. They had simply always done it, usually saving their selves a lot of time.

They sat there for a fairly long time, their eyes searching in confusion, but still unable to find the familiar label. After searching the left hand side for what must have been the tenth time, at least, Sirius nudged his best friend roughly in the side.

'What?'

'I can't find him; he must be on your side.'

'He's not on my side, I've looked countless times.' James replied firmly.

'Well then where...' he trailed off in realisation, and quickly jumped to his feet, moving forward to grab his cloak and also grabbing a bar of chocolate from his own bedside cabinet, it couldn't do any harm after all.

'Where are you going?' James called, his brow creasing in confusion.

'He's not on the map, right?' Sirius called back as he reached the door.

'Right?

'Which means the only place he could possibly be, where he wouldn't show up-'

'-would be the Room of Requirement.' James finished for him.

'Exactly,' Sirius nodded quickly, firmly yanking the door open.

'Sirius,' James called and Sirius turned on the spot, shifting impatiently. 'Make sure you have your make up session somewhere else.' Sirius gave a snort at his friend's cheeky comment, and laughed openly, as he watched his best friend get hit over the head by his girlfriend, and Sirius quickly turned and made his way down the stairs as fast he could possibly manage.

'That's assault!' he heard James declare loudly, followed by a most out of character giggle from the witch who had _assaulted _him.

Sirius wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been sitting outside the Room of Requirement. Try as he might, he couldn't get into the room and was now sitting beside the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, much to his annoyance. He was nervous. Nervous and impatient; he couldn't seem to stop biting the skin around his nails, pulling little bits off which he was sure Remus would chastise him for. If he could convince Remus to make up with him, that was.

Sighing loudly he threw his head back, a little too hard unfortunately and there was a resounding _thud_, as his head collided with the stone wall behind him. Groaning in frustration he stood up and began pacing nervously, waiting for Remus to venture out into the hall way, when a sudden thought struck him. What is Remus was _planning _on staying in the room all night? He would be stuck waiting in the cold corridor until morning without a winks sleep. But then, he supposed, he probably did deserve it for not ridding himself of Mary sooner than he had.

'Sirius? What on earth are you doing?' a soft voice asked from behind him and he spun around from where he'd been pacing, coming almost face to face with Remus Lupin. Now that they were so close to each other Sirius felt his heart speed up and was suddenly overtaken with nerves.

'I uh...pacing, I was pacing.'

'Right,'

'Remy I-' he felt his voice crack slightly with emotion and swallowed uncomfortably. 'Please, don't be mad at me. It wasn't what you think, honestly.'

'And what, exactly, do I think?' Remus asked tensely.

'I don't know,' he admitted weakly. 'There are lots of things you could think that wouldn't be true. I love you Remy, I would _never _do anything with the intention of hurting you. I certainly would never do anything like _that_. You know me Remus; you know I'd never do that to you.' He took a step forward but Remus stepped back, his expression hardening as he waited for Sirius to continue.

'Remus I love you _far _too much to risk what we have.'

'We shouldn't be having this conversation out here.' Remus suddenly said his voice quiet and worried. 'Someone might overhear, we should just drop it and talk in the morning and-'

'-No I won't wait 'til the bloody morning! I don't care if anybody hears, hell I'll gather the school to the Quidditch pitch and shout for everyone to hear, just how much I love you Remus.'

'Sirius-'

'-No! This is how it all started anyway!' he cried out unhappily. 'All these bloody secrets, I can't stand it Remy. I just want us to be happy, and not have to hide.'

'You have a strange way of showing it.' The pale young man commented harshly and Sirius flinched as if Remus had physically struck him. It was a blow to his emotions, tearing at him until he was blinking back tears, refusing to let them fall.

'You don't understand Remy, I didn't kiss her back.'

'You certainly weren't pulling away until you noticed me.'

'I WAS SHOCKED!'

'By what exactly? _Mary Macdonald _deciding to try and kiss you? Because really, Sirius, that's been a long time coming. I had hoped you'd be capable of resisting her.'

'I swear Remy, there was nothing in it! I just didn't know what to do, I froze okay. I panicked, and I'm sorry. But I don't _like_ her. I mean, that's kind of self explanatory, right? I mean I'm with _you, _clearly she isn't what I'm into.'

'I don't know, Sirius, you certainly didn't have a problem with girls before.' Remus retorted, his eyes full of emotion and his guarded expression forgotten.

'I NEVER LIKED ANY OF THEM ANYWAY, YOU BLOODY WELL KNOW THAT! THE ONLY REASON I EVEN WENT NEAR THEM BEFORE WAS BECAUSE I WAS CONFUSED, WHICH BY THE WAY, WAS _YOUR _FAULT IN THE FIRST PLACE.'

'My fault? How could _you _choosing to-to _do_ things with those girls be my fault.'

'I didn't _do _anything with them Remus, don't even try to pull that one on me. That's all bullshit, it's just rumours, you _know _I didn't. I was messed up in the head because I was trying to get my head around you...and I did. I realised how idiotic I was being as soon as I saw how hurt you were by me distancing myself.'

'How nice of you.'

'You're being unreasonable.'

'So it's unreasonable for me to expect you _not _to go off kissing _Mary Macdonald_, of all people. Really Sirius, of all the people in the school who'd most likely throw themselves at you on Valentine's day, you let _her_.'

'Remy-'

'-You knew how I felt about her, Sirius.'

'I DIDN'T BLOODY WELL SNOG HER!' he shouted defensively, pulling Remus to him in the middle of the corridor and kissing him passionately. Remus had kissed back momentarily, in the heat of the moment, before realising what was happening, and had pulled away, pushing Sirius away from him.

'Do you have _any idea _how much you hurt me today?' Remus asked, his voice sounding strained as he spoke.

'I never meant to.' He whispered back, slowly drawing closer to the pale young man, so as not to frighten him off.

'It hurt Sirius; she was in our room, alone, with _you_. On Valentine's day, of all days. She was with you, when you should have been with _me_.'

'I know. I was being a huffy git, sulking around this morning. I _know_you have it just as tough as I do, more so if you count _other stuff_. I know that I was being a self-centred git. I'm sorry for everything, okay? I'm sorry for being a sulky git, I'm sorry for being stupid enough to not chuck her out the room straight away. I'm sorry for not pushing her away quick enough, I'm sorry for hurting you, and I'm sorry for letting you down _again_. Hell, I'm sorry for fucking dumping myself on you in the first place. I'm a right git at times, I continually mess things up and...I-I don't deserve you. After everything that's happened since we got together...and you just forgave me every bloody time that I did something stupid.'

'I forgive you every time.' Remus corrected calmly, moving closer to him.

'W-What?'

'You were saying it in the past tense.'

'But...'

'I'm not saying things are over, Sirius. I don't think I could possibly live without you now. I still want to be with you, I just...I need you to understand how much you hurt me.'

'I do Remy, Merlin I do.' He mumbled weakly, pulling Remus into his arms and kissing him on the forehead. 'I swear I didn't want to kiss her or anything. I just froze.'

'I know, Sirius,' the pale young man sighed. 'I saw it in your eyes as soon as you pulled away from her. But that didn't make it hurt any less.'

'I'm _so _sorry Remy, I love you _so _much.' He whispered weakly and Remus smiled softly, tugging his hand slightly until they were both sat quietly on the cold stone floor. Remus held out his arms and Sirius shuffled closer, melting almost instantly into Remus' embrace and giving a small sigh of relief, his eyes closing momentarily and breathed in Remus' familiar, comforting scent.

'I'm surprised you haven't killed me yet,' Sirius joked weakly.

'Of course not, I wouldn't kill you in _Hogwarts. _It would be far easy to get caught in this kind of place._' _Remus joked lightly, his hand reaching out to stroke Sirius' face and his smile suddenly disappearing when Sirius flinched slightly as Remus' pale fingers brushed over his newly sensitive jaw.

'What happened to your face?' Remus demanded worriedly, his eyes suddenly full of concern and protectiveness as Sirius remembered his encounter with his best friend.

'Um...James _may _have hit me.'

'He hit you?' Remus asked, he sounded incredibly surprised and Sirius gave a small, unsure laugh.

'He's _very _protective of his friends, and he didn't have time to calm down because there was only the three of us there. So he didn't have to hold back cus of teachers and such.'

'He actually hit you?' Remus asked still sounding unsure.

'Yes Remus, you silly idiot.' He smiled affectionately. 'You _are _one of his best friends, you know.'

'I know, but...well, you two are practically like brothers.'

'Yeah, but I was the one in the wrong. He's not going to be disloyal to you in order to stand up for me when I'm the one who messed up.'

'I suppose...' Remus agreed softly and Sirius smiled awkwardly, reaching into his pocket and bringing out a small bit of chocolate.

'I brought you a bar of chocolate,' he mumbled awkwardly. 'But I sort of ate most of it, I was nervous and...Well, I hadn't eaten since breakfast so...'

'You haven't eaten since breakfast?' Remus exclaimed in surprise as he accepted the last few blocks and broke them in half, giving the other half back to Sirius. 'Why not?'

'I spent a fair bit of time looking for you, and then I don't know...I just didn't.' He shrugged, popping the chocolate into his mouth as he spoke.

'Okay, well we'll go to the Kitchens and get you something to eat then.' Remus replied firmly, moving in the direction of the stairs but Sirius reached out, grabbing hold of his boyfriend and tugging him in the other direction.

'What on earth...Sirius, where are you taking me?'

'We're taking a detour,' he smiled softly.

'A detour?'

'Yes, via the fourth floor.'

'That's one hell of a detour, Sirius.' Remus chuckled and Sirius grinned widely.

'You better hope we don't bump into Filch, cus we don't have the bloody map to get us out of any situations.' Sirius laughed, and he then pulled Remus down through a secret passageway and they made their way down to the fourth floor.

'Sirius, what are we doing?' Remus sighed as they made their way along the corridor. Sirius was counting carefully as they made their way along the corridor, counting the suits of armour until he came across a familiar dip in the wall.

'Well, Remus. I decided I'm going to do exactly what I should have done back in our fourth year.' He grinned as he remembered how confused and nervous he had been for so long after that night.

'And what was that exactly?' the scarred young man chuckled as Sirius pulled him into the tight space where they had hidden all those years ago.

'Shove you against that damn wall and snog you senseless.' He grinned wildly, pressing Remus back against the wall with a smile. He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as he suddenly smelt the polish from the armour and remembered the scent from the amortentia in Slughorn's class; newly polished armour, chocolate and that unique scent that was entirely Remus' own and, as he grinned even wider, he realised that at this precise moment he could smell all three.

He could feel excitement rushing through him, along with unexplainable nerves, and suddenly, it was like he was back in fourth year all over again. Except that _this_ time there was no Filch to hide from, no Marauders around to interrupt them and no confusion lingering in his mind. He knew exactly what he wanted, and that was suddenly shy looking Remus Lupin, looking up at him with such love and affection that it made his heart beat all the faster, as he closed the gap between them...

**You know, I think me posting chapters past one O'Clock in the morning is becoming a regular occurrence haha. Hope you liked the update – it's longer than recent chapters :) Once again, I will do replies to reviews tomorrow as I am quite tired and still have a few things to get done before going to sleep :P ILY my readers!**

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**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

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**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	82. Chapter 82 An Important Message

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters **

'Remus John Lupin, would you be so kind as to fulfil a request of mine?' Sirius sighed, his eyes leaving the lake momentarily to look at his pale boyfriend.

'That would depend on the nature of your request.' Remus replied, looking up from his Arithmancy book with a raised eyebrow.

'Well, when you reply like that I can think of _many _requests.' He smirked.

'What was the _original _request, then?' the paler youth asked, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

'Can you kill me?'

'And why, exactly, do you wish to be killed?'

'You really have to ask? Just look at those two, it's sickening.' He nodded sideways towards James and Lily who were currently curled up together, in front of the Marauders' usual tree; James was holding the redhead's hands gently and leaning forward every few seconds to leave tender kisses on the end of her nose, causing her to giggle like a fourth year around a half naked Sirius.

'It's a bit much,' Remus admitted, his eyes flickering towards the couple as he spoke, but his eyes still held a great deal of amusement and Sirius could tell he didn't really mind.

'Well, can you or can you not kill me?'

'I _could _but I won't.' The scarred young man replied lightly as he reached over and quickly scribbled a correction on Peter's Defence Against the Dark Arts homework.

'Why not?' he pretended to huff loudly, solely as an attempt to keep Remus' attention for as long as possible.

'Because Sirius, you didn't say please.' Remus joked lightly.

'Pretty please, with melted chocolate on top.' He smiled widely.

'On top of what exactly?' James threw in suggestively; apparently he was unable to stay out of the conversation now that he could insinuate things.

'Do you _really _want to know?' Sirius smirked and watched as his best friend erupted into laughter.

'No Pads, no I don't.'

'Well, I don't want to see your little display all day either.' He grinned and watched as Lily blushed lightly.

'Well, you won't have to see it for much longer.' Lily smiled. 'I need to go on my rounds.'

'Liiiiilllllyyyyyyyyyyy.' James whined unhappily.

'As cute as I'll pretend your whining is James, I can't really help it.' She stood up and bent down; pecking her boyfriend lightly on the lips and Sirius couldn't help but grin at the look of utter completion on James' face. It still surprised him, how incredibly happy James looked after every bit of affection Lily gave him.

'I could come with you, if you want.' The messy haired youth offered.

'I can do rounds on my own James,' she chuckled happily.

'But-'

'-I won't be long.' She cut over, rolling her eyes at his behaviour.

'Fine, but we can walk you up to the castle anyway; we've not had breakfast yet.'

'Who says I want breakfast?' Sirius joked.

'You _are _having breakfast.' Remus said firmly as he began packing away rolls of parchment and his books.

'Okay, Okay.' He replied lightly. 'Only if we can go get some cake from the Kitchens later on.'

'Fine, as long as you eat breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day.'

'I'd say the most important meal of the day is my midnight snack.' He winked suggestively at his boyfriend and, just as he had expected, the pale young man got some colour to his cheeks.

'You can't class a midnight snack as a meal, Sirius.' Remus replied exasperatedly to try and cover his initial embarrassment.

'Can we _not _have this conversation?' James laughed.

'Shut it, you bloody ponce.' He grinned and was quickly rewarded with James chasing him in circles around the tree.

'You do realise that you're giving him what he wanted, don't you James?' Remus chuckled as he watched the two Marauders continue to run around and around.

'James, James stop.' Lily sighed, reaching her hand out and grabbing a fistful of his shirt to tug him towards her. 'You're _Head Boy_, not a five year old in a play park.'

'He started it!' James accused, pointing a finger at Sirius in a childlike fashion. But the grin that was slowly spreading across his face proved that he was, indeed, doing it solely to wind Lily up.

'Oh, very funny James' Lily rolled eyes.

'Yeah, very funny James' Sirius played along, sticking his tongue out immaturely and watching as Lily rolled her eyes even further, if that was at all possible. 'You're so childish James.'

'Move,' Remus instructed them firmly and the two young men shared a smirk before doing as they were told and walking up towards the castle.

'How do you do that?' they heard Lily ask as they began walking up to the castle. 'They don't listen to me, they just tease me. At least when I wasn't going out with James he actually listened to me.

'Years of practice.' Remus replied with a chuckle. 'And that was because he was too worried about upsetting you. In all honesty, I think they only listened to me to wind you up.'

'Dammit Prongs, our plans have been discovered!' He exclaimed loudly as he padded up the path and towards the viaduct...

Sirius had been mere feet away from the Gryffindor table, and looking forward to his usual pile of toast, when he had been stopped short by a usually stern voice that seemed to have unexpectedly taken on a rather softer tone.

'Mr Black, if you would please accompany to my office. I have a matter to discuss with you.' Professor McGonagall said quietly.

'Me?' he asked feeling confused. 'Professor, I swear whatever it is you think that I've done, I must have been set up.'

'You're instant assumption that you are in trouble for some misdeed would have done little to prove your innocence, if that were the case. However, I assure you that I have no reason, at this moment, to believe you have done anything wrong.'

'So I'm not in trouble?'

'No, you're not. Now, if you could please accompany me to my office.' She stated once more, before turning and walking in the direction of the large doors. He glanced quickly at the others, shrugging unsurely as he saw confusion flicker through each of the Marauders' eyes.

'Be back soon, I hope.' He sighed and sped up to catch up with the House Head...

'Mr Black, I'm sure you're wondering why I have brought you here.' The professor began, she hadn't bothered to sit down and Sirius was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable. 'Knowing you're current situation with your family-'

'-The Potters are my family Professor, not the Blacks.' He interrupted firmly. McGonagall opened her mouth looking as if she was about to scold him for his interruption when there was a loud knock at the door.

'Come in, Horace.' The Professor said calmly, finally choosing to take her seat as Professor Slughorn made his way into the office with one of the last people Sirius wanted to be near...Regulus.

'Mr Black, I'm glad you got here so speedily.' She said politely and indicated for him to take a seat beside Sirius. The younger Black sat down as instructed and Sirius immediately chose to stand, unable to sit beside someone who he knew had been involved in the attack against James and Remus.

'Now, the two of you are here for reason.' Professor McGonagall began calmly. 'And we thought it best that you be informed of this together, Professor Dumbledore, I'm sure, would have talked with you himself but he is currently away on business.'

'Is this going to take long?' Sirius sighed.

'Mr Black, you would do well to remember that I am your Head of House. I will not tolerate your cheek.'

'Sorry Professor, I'm afraid I simply dislike the present company.' He said pointedly, nodding in Regulus' direction with dislike. The younger brother was looking at Sirius with embarrassment and annoyance, but he seemed unable to speak out. Sirius supposed that the Slytherin was simply too used to being bossed around and expected to remain quiet at home that he seemed unable to disrespect the Professors' wishes.

'Now, I brought you both here to pass on some rather unfortunate news. I'm afraid that your Uncle, Alphard Black has been admitted to St Mungo's. He was quite adamant that he see you both, but I'm afraid that is not entirely possible.'

'He's dying isn't he?' Regulus said rather bluntly. 'That's why he wants us to visit right? He wants to...you know, say goodbye or whatever.'

'We do not know the full details on your uncle's health, it is possible he could recover, however slim the chances may be-' Professor Slughorn added in awkwardly before being cut off by Sirius.

'-But that's the general gist, right? He wouldn't have wanted to take us out of school to see him if he didn't think...you know...' he couldn't finish the question, his stomach twisting uncomfortably as he thought of his sick uncle.

'Your uncle had contracted a serious case of Dragonpox.' The Professor explained, her eyes flickering between the two Blacks worriedly, apparently unsure of how they would react.

'I thought Dragonpox was treatable now.' Regulus stated. 'If there's a cure then surely he'll be fine. My family is one of the most respected and wealthiest family's in the entire wizarding world.

'Not everything can be solved by power or wealth.' Sirius snapped harshly. 'Having people afraid of you or having infinite wealth can't cure you of all your problems-'

'-That is quite enough.' McGongall cut over him. 'Now, since you are both unable to visit your uncle, he has requested that you both be given these.' She unlocked the top drawer of her desk and handed them each an envelope, each one containing their own name.

'Thank you Professor,' Sirius smiled half-heartedly. He couldn't believe that his uncle had actually wanted him to visit. Sure, his uncle Alphard had never been too bothered about blood purity or any other such nonsense, just like Sirius himself, but to be willing to have Sirius visit him when _everyone _knew that he had been disowned was practically insane. His mother would go positively mental, well, as much as one could when one was near enough insane to begin with, he mused.

'Now, I assure you that if either of you need to talk, then Professor Slughorn and I are both here to lend an ear. Is that understood?'

'Yes Professor.' They chorused, looking anywhere but at each other. They were then permitted to leave and Sirius found that he simply couldn't get out of her office quick enough. He made his way along the corridor, heading towards the Great Hall, along with Regulus, both in a deadly silence until they were out of the Professors' hearing range.

'Mother wouldn't have allowed it.' Regulus said firmly, turning to face Sirius with a cruel expression on his face. 'She wouldn't have let you anywhere near Uncle Alphard. You don't deserve to be there, you're not one of us anymore. You gave up your rights as a Black when you ran off to live with that blood-traitor friend of yours.'

'Clearly Uncle Alphard doesn't care what you lot think. Otherwise he wouldn't have wanted me to see him, nor would he have given me this. Would he?' He said pointedly, holding up his envelope. 'He actually has some form of sense, unlike you lot.'

'Sense?' Regulus fumed angrily.

'Yeah, sense to not think you're much better than everyone else in the world. Sense enough to not get involved with dodgy types, he knew what was best not to meddle with.'

'Perhaps, but he also knew how to remain quiet, how to be a respectful member of The Most Noble and Ancient house of Black.'

'Wow Reg, you've managed to get so far up dad's arse I'm beginning to wonder if you actually have your own mind.'

'You can talk about being up someone's arse,' Regulus laughed, seeming half mad as he spoke. 'You're so far up Lupin's arse it's hilarious. I swear you can't leave him alone for two minutes, what's wrong? Did the wolf beating give you a fright?'

'You shut the hell up!' he hissed angrily, feeling his blood boil with hate for his younger brother. 'You think that attacking people makes you superior? Well it doesn't, it makes you look like a weak, pathetic rat.'

'I don't think Potter would agree, considering he was the one spending a few days in the hospital wing after that incident.'

Unable to take any more, Sirius grabbed the younger boy by the collar and shoved him straight up against the stone wall, not caring who saw right now.

'You think its all fun and games, here, in these castle walls. What about when you leave your protective little shell? As soon as you leave this place you'll see that sick bastard and all his pathetic followers for what they really are. And d'you know what? I hope you suffer, I hope he makes you a death eater, fully, and then you'll see how bad things _really _are. You'll be dead within a year of leaving this place, I guarantee it. After all, if they don't decide to kill you off...our side will.'

'You think you're all that. Well, you most certainly are not. Now, take you treacherous _fucking_ hands off of me, otherwise I'll show everyone that us Slytherins aren't the darkest ones around here after all.' Sirius instantly let go of his brother, knowing full well that Regulus was more than capable of stooping low enough to dig a Remus for revenge.

'Oh, and Sirius? I'd keep a close eye on those friends of yours...wouldn't want a repeat of what happened to Lupin and Potter, eh?' He felt his anger surge furiously but refused to fall prey to his emotions. He wouldn't risk Remus' secret like that. Without another word Sirius watched as his brother walked along the corridor and completely out of sight, before sinking down in both shock and horror. They were going to set their eyes on someone in his group...he felt sick to the stomach...

He wasn't entirely sure how long he had been sitting there, on the floor, his back pressed against the stone cold wall, when he was knocked out of his thoughts by a new presence in the corridor.

'Sirius is something wrong?' a gentle voice asked, and he looked up to see Lily Evans standing above him. Her startling green eyes were awash with concern and she crouched down to look at him closer. 'You look upset.' She said quietly, moving even lower until she was sat in front of Sirius on the cold floor.

'I...I don't know.' He mumbled, running a hand through his hair worriedly.

'You don't know what's upsetting you?' she asked, looking concerned further.

'Yes, well no...I...there's more than one thing I suppose.'

'Do you want to talk about it?'

'I don't know.' He replied honestly. He felt guilty for not thinking more about his dying uncle, but he couldn't help but be worried about his friends. What if James was next? Or Lily? It wouldn't be Peter anyway, that much he was sure of; Peter wasn't anything extraordinary, he was barely average. It wasn't that he didn't completely love Peter, because he did, just as he loved all his friends. He just knew that Peter wasn't exactly death-eater material. Meeting the redhead's gaze he suddenly felt like someone was pulling at his heartstrings. He couldn't imagine how horrible it would be if they went after Lily next...she was, well, he wasn't even sure _how _to describe her. But she meant a hell of a lot to him, and well...he wouldn't even want to _imagine_ James' fury if anything happened to her.

'I...my uncle's in hospital, I don't think he's got much longer to live...he wanted me to have this.' He held up the envelope nervously.

'You haven't opened it yet.' She said quietly.

'I can't, if I do, everything will be so much more real and...He's the only Black, the only one of them who isn't a complete and utter raving lunatic.'

'Were you close?' she asked gently, taking his hand to comfort him.

'No...not really. I haven't seen him since, well, a fair while before Hogwarts anyway. That's what makes it so much worse Lily, I really liked him but...I never bothered to keep in touch, even though he was probably the only person in my family that would still be willing to give me a chance.'

'The rest of your family don't deserve to have your love or respect anyway.' Lily said firmly, squeezing his hand firmly to show how strongly she felt on her point.

'Thanks Petal.' He smiled weakly and the green eyed witch returned the smile softly.

'So, what's the second thing then?'

'I think...I think I should tell you later. Well, tell everyone together I suppose.'

'That doesn't sound too good Sirius.' She frowned instantly.

'I just had a run in with Reg, and well, he said some stuff that's got me a bit worried.'

'I understand, but he's probably just playing games with your head. The others aren't going to think any less of you for telling me before them, you know.'

'I...he told me to keep a close eye on my friends. He was hinting that someone else would be next, just like they tried to get Remus to join them.'

'I meant what I said Sirius, I think he's trying to mess with your head. He's trying to hurt you emotionally and if you get yourself all wound up and paranoid again then you're letting him win. You would be letting them all win, and we certainly wouldn't want that now, would we?'

'No, I suppose not. I can't help worrying though, I mean, look what happened to James when he tried to help Remus...'

'But he got healed, and he's fine now, Sirius. James would take that curse a hundred times over for any one of us if he had to. But he's fine. We will _all _get through this Sirius, we'll be fine.'

'Promise?' he joked lightly, putting on the child-like voice from their earlier joking around.

'I can't make that promise.' Lily said sadly. 'But I'll do everything humanly possible to make sure that things turn out that way.' She seemed to have noted that he was slowly falling into depression from her harsh acceptance of reality, and prodded him lightly in the side in a teasing manner. 'Now, why don't you open that letter and see what your uncle wanted so desperately to say to you.'

'I...' he broke off unsurely, lightly fingering the unopened envelope and looking up at Lily, seeing her smile encouragingly at him. 'Ok.' He mumbled unsurely. Ripping the envelope open he pulled out a rather shimmery, expensive piece of parchment and began to read his uncle's perfectly neat writing.

_Dear Sirius _

_As I'm sure you've been told, I have recently come down with a rather nasty case of Dragonpox; positively foul illness you know, my skin in currently taking on such a green tinge that I would quite easily blend in with the Slytherin Common Room. Your mother, of course, would probably see it as an honour to die with such a colour tainting my skin, she always was a little crazy, my sister. On a more serious note, however, no pun intended on your behalf I might add, I am sure that you have managed to figure out that I am unlikely to pull through my current illness. I must say that this is a rather unfortunate occurrence as I would have liked to have seen both you and your brother again, however this seems unlikely now as I am quite contagious and therefore, am unapproachable. It saddens me that we have spent so many years without contact; I would have loved to have the courageous man that you have most surely become. _

_I know that you are probably surprised to have been given this letter; after all, my darling sister will probably be positively livid when she hears of this. But I know of your family situation; that you ran away from home and managed to escape their pure-blood mania and positively medieval beliefs. I want you to know that I am very proud of you for doing what you did. It was a brave choice, leaving all that you have ever known and without a sickle to your name. It is something I could only have dreamed about doing, but never had the courage to do myself. _

_I have little time left, and little advice that would be of any use to you, as you are clearly a far different person to myself and I'm sure that an old man's words are of little use to you. However, inside the envelope, along with this letter, I have placed a key. This is the key to a Gringotts Bank Account that I have set up in your name; I have given you a large sum of money which I hope will keep you kept in the manner you were once accustomed to, and I hope that this helps you on your way to becoming the man that I know you wish to be. _

_I wish you all the best for the future, whatever you choose to do in life._

_Yours faithfully_

_Alphard Black_

He felt tears sting the corner of his eyes as he finished reading the surprising letter. He blinked them back, refusing to let any tears fall, but felt a massive wave of gratefulness flow through him. His uncle had chosen to leave money to him, to help him, even though it would most likely result in his being blasted off the family tapestry. He only wished that he could have a chance to say goodbye face-to-face and thank his uncle for his unexpected words and gift.

'Sirius...what's wrong?' a worried voice asked suddenly and Sirius looked up just in time to see the unexpected form of James Potter appear suddenly before him, as well as the other two Marauders who were shortly behind him. James had the Marauders' Map clutched in his hand, having apparently used it to locate him.

'I...' he felt unable to explain now. His throat had tightened considerably with emotion as he had read the letter and he quickly pushed the letter into James' hands, allowing the bespectacled young man to read its words, whilst the other two Marauders read it over the messy haired youth's shoulders.

'Oh Siri...' Remus sighed sadly, having finished reading the letter before the others. The pale young man crouched down beside him on the floor, and Lily quickly shuffled over to allow him to sit directly in front of Sirius. Moving forward instinctively, Sirius leant into Remus' embrace and breathed in his familiar, comforting scent as he allowed his boyfriend to hold him close, stroking his hair lovingly. No words were needed now, as they sat together, not caring in the slightest what anyone would think if they walked past...

**Okay, so this is posted a little bit later than I'd hoped, since I've had a busy week, plus I found it hard to get writing after the last chapter...Anyway, I'm am back on form now but unfortunately I'm going on holiday so I won't be updating until the Saturday after next at earliest, since I'll be returning on the Friday. But it shouldn't take me long to update when I return since I'll most likely write the next chapter whilst I'm travelling. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I looked forward to reading your lovely reviews when I return to get me motivated :)**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**DarkestAngel13**

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**Vampykitten-Kun**

**GiggleNo9**

**xharrypotterismylifex**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL**

**PharaohDeli**

**Panties Inspector**

**DandyDandelion**

**ClatuVrata**

**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	83. Chapter 83 The First Official Date

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

'Ugh, Sirius will you stop tapping your quill on the table. I can't concentrate with that stupid noise in the background.'

'Sorry, Petal.' He replied distractedly as he then proceeded to suck on his Sugar Quill instead.

'Sirius, that's disgusting!' Lily scolded him. The redhead reached out quickly and grabbed the quill from his hand and put it in the bin beside their table.

'I was eating that!' he complained loudly.

'Ssh, we're in the library.'

'I can't believe you put it in the bin, you better buy me another one.' He found himself huffing as he reached into his cloak and brought out another Sugar Quill.

'You're going to end up with rotten teeth one day, you know.' Lily informed him as she rolled her eyes at him.'

'Yes, I do know. Remus has told me numerous times. You didn't have to take my Quill away though.'

'Sirius you were tapping it on the table and then you put it back in your mouth. That really _is _disgusting.'

'Lily, I have had much worse things in my mouth than that.' Lily's eyes widened comically at his words and Sirius let out a bark of laughter in amusement. 'Tut tut Lily, _that _isn't what I meant at all. I was simply referring to things that I have picked up whilst being Padfoot.'

'Oh,' she blushed in realisation before allowing herself to laugh at her own expense.

'Honestly Lily, get your mind out of the gutter. You're Head Girl; you're supposed to set a good example to the innocent minds of the younger students.' The redhead continued to blush slightly at his teasing but continued to jot down more words onto her already essay.

'Lily, I think your essay is a tad longer than necessary.' He smirked as he leaned over to look at her parchment.

'Professor Burse said he wanted an in-depth essay on Patronuses.'

'Exactly Petal, an in-depth essay. He didn't ask you to write a novel long enough to get published.'

'Well, I don't want to leave anything out.'

'Lily, its fine as it is. I swear. So just round it up and turn it into a conclusion so that we can go eat already. If we take much longer you'll miss James' Quidditch practice and we'll have to listen to him mope all day.'

'Are you going to come this time?'

'Um, no...But I am going to come to the final, I promise.'

'Okay...' she trailed off somewhat sadly.

'Why?'

'Well, it's just that you and Remus _never_ come to his Quidditch practices so if I do go then I end up sitting on my own with Peter.'

'Ah, I suppose you two don't have much to talk about.' Sirius replied knowingly.

'Well, it's just that...I don't think he likes me very much.'

'Pete's weird with pretty much everyone. Hell, I doubt he'd even have bothered becoming a Marauder if it wasn't for James. James was the first person to actually make any effort with the poor sod.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, it's not like I intentionally didn't make the effort and whatnot but, well, when we first got to Hogwarts I was more concerned with making sure Remus felt involved.'

'That's quite sweet really,' she smiled before adding teasingly; 'You were destined all along.' He couldn't help but let out a small grin at her slightly dramatic tone. She had clearly been influenced by her time with the Marauders.

'No.' He disagreed immediately. 'I was only eleven Lily, I didn't think about anyone like that, not for a long time...'

'Well, clearly _something _drew you to him from the start.'

'I suppose,' he mused with a small smile, thinking back to the eleven year old Remus that he had befriended back in his first year. 'Remus was just so...well, you remember what he was like back then. He was small and pale, covered in scars and barely spoke two words to anyone. He never started a conversation, always looked shy and embarrassed when he was spoke to...I just felt like he needed someone to look out for him, you know?' Lily nodded in confirmation and Sirius smiled once more.

'I mean, that first night at the sorting ceremony, everybody was staring at him and whispering. Even then, when I'd only just met him on the train I felt protective of him. He and James were so nice to me on the train, they were the first people who weren't just nice to be because of my pureblood status or because they feared my family. I hated that people were whispering behind Remus' back without knowing anything about him.'

'I remember...' Lily said softly. 'In fact, I remember being just as curious as the rest of them.' She added guiltily.

'But you had the decency to keep your thoughts to yourself.' He reminded her. 'I hate it when people stare at him funnily because of something he can't help. He doesn't deserve the treatment he gets from people because of it...' Lily seemed to have sensed that the conversation was taking an uncomfortable turn, because she began packing away her things quickly and gave him a quick smile.

'I'll finish the essay off later on; I might even ask Remus for some pointers for the conclusion.'

'Well, if there's anyone to ask for help with Defence Against the Dark Arts then it's Remus. Pity he sat with me that first day in first year really. Burse might not have disliked him straight away otherwise.'

'Professor Burse dislikes most people.' She laughed back.

'Not as much as he hates me and Remus though, he's hated us from the start.'

'Well, you did get in a fight in his class in your first ever lesson. It's bound to make a teacher dislike you.'

'Yeah, well that was because of that snivelling git Snape. It wasn't _my _fault. Plus Remus didn't deserve to be disliked because of what _I _did.'

'I think he dislikes Remus for more than just that,'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'It's just that...he automatically disliked Remus without any _real _reason behind it. So, being a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher I think he probably disliked Remus for..._other _reasons.' She lowered her voice considerably at the end of her sentence and Sirius suddenly felt like all the pieces had clicked together inside his mind.

'You don't think he has a problem with Remus because of...well...' he gave her pointed look to show that he wasn't about to state Remus' lycanthropy for all to hear and she seemed to have understood, because she gave a sharp nod in agreement.

'That's ridiculous' he fumed, barely managing to keep his voice lowered. 'Surely Burse can't hold _that_ against him. It's not something he bloody well chose.'

'I'm just saying that although _we_ don't mind, it _is _something that people are very prejudiced against. There's a lot of stigma attached to it and as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Burse probably feels quite prejudiced because, in the eyes of the ministry, he would be seen as-'

'-Don't even say it.' Sirius growled, he wasn't angry with Lily of course, after all it wasn't _Lily's_ opinion, but he refused to listen to Remus being called a dark creature. His Remy was as far away from being a _dark creature _as it got. Hell, his Remus wouldn't hurt a bloody Slytherin unless he'd been hexed first; it was absolutely ridiculous that the ministry saw him as nothing more than some Werewolf who was unwanted extra in the wizarding world.

'SIRIUS!' a voice called from the doorway, apparently too lazy to bother looking through the library for him. He smiled faintly in recognition and awaited the reaction he knew was sure to come.

'Mr Potter!' began the voice of a rather angry sounding librarian.

'Yes, Madame Pince?' James replied courteously, apparently thinking that he could charm his way into lessening her dislike towards him.

'Mr Potter, this is a _library. _This is not a Quidditch pitch and there is no need for raised voices in here. Do I make myself clear?'

'Why of course, crystal clear in fact. I was merely on a errand for Professor Dumbledore and assumed that it would save time for me to call on Sirius rather than search for him. After all, I doubt that Professor Dumbledore wishes to be kept waiting.'

'I see,' she replied haughtily. Sirius and Lily had reached the front of the library upon these words and with a flash of a grin from James they left, avoiding the unhappy glares of the librarian.

'What does Dumbledore want?' Lily asked worriedly as they reached the end of the corridor and made their way down the stairs.

'Dumbledore?' the bespectacled man asked innocently. 'Why nothing Lily, whatever gave you that idea?' Seeming to catch on that it had been a ploy to avoid being shouted at Lily rolled her eyes at her boyfriend and linked her hand with his affectionately.

'So, where are the others then?'

'Well, Pete's off with that girl I set him up with on Valentine's Day. Apparently she actually wanted to see him again.'

'Seriously?' Sirius asked in disbelief. 'I thought she just wanted him for Valentine's Day so she wasn't alone whilst her friends were all off on dates.'

'Don't be mean Sirius.' Lily scolded lightly, hitting his arm playfully as they continued their walk.

'I didn't mean it in a nasty way,' Sirius rolled his eyes. 'I just didn't think they were well suited is all.'

'Well, apparently she thinks differently.' James laughed as he led the way down to the Great Hall.

'What about Remus then?'

'Oh, he's waiting for us down in the Great Hall. I told him I'd come drag you two away from that awful place.'

'It's only a library, James.' The redhead laughed.

'Yeah, _someone _had to go with her otherwise she would never have attempted to leave.' Sirius teased. 'Remus was going over Pete's Herbology notes and you were having so much fun, telling the first years all about why they shouldn't use dungbombs in the corridors.'

'Actually I told them they couldn't use them in the corridors _unless_ they were using them on Slytherins.' James grinned proudly, for which he received a resounding _smack _to the back of his head from his disapproving girlfriend.

'Honestly James, you're Head Boy, not a troublesome fourth year.' James shrugged half-heartedly and gave her a warm smile which seemed to have melted away her disapproval slightly.

'So...' James began with a familiar smile that Sirius knew meant that James had thought of something and was feeling rather proud of himself.

'So...?' Sirius replied with a grin, hoping that James had thought up some genius adventure of sorts for them.

'I found a solution to your dating predicament.'

'James.' He began warningly.

'No seriously, listen to me.' Taking Sirius' silence to be a good sign James continued. 'Okay, so it's not the _best _solution in the world. But it's still a solution. I found somewhere that the two of you can go, a place where people wouldn't be interested in anything going on that wasn't the reason that they themselves were there.'

'I'm not sure I like the sound of this.'

'Okay, so it's not exactly the most elegant of places and perhaps it's not...shall we say, a usual dating location. But nobody will bat an eyelid at two guys sitting in the corner having a few drinks.'

'James just spit it out.' Sirius sighed, noticing that James seemed less convinced of his own idea now.

'I thought that maybe you could go on a date...at the Hogs Head.'

'Are taking the piss out of me, James?' Sirius growled in annoyance.

'Of course not you daft idiot.' His best friend replied, quickly whilst he pushed his glasses up from the end of his nose.

'Why in Merlin's name would I take someone on a date in _that _dingy place?'

'Because you won't take him anywhere else.' James sighed angrily. 'I know it's not exactly a beautiful location but it's something, right?' Sirius glanced around quickly and was relieved to find that nobody was around to have heard James comment on his taking a guy out somewhere.

'I'm not going to have our first date at the Hogs Head, James. He deserves better than that...much better.'

'Well, you don't want to have a date in the Room of Requirement, right?'

'No, I'd prefer to be in a _real _location for our first date.'

'Well unless you'd rather have a date in the shrieking shack.' James stated pointedly.

'Of course I bloody well wouldn't James! That would be the most insensitive thing I could possibly think of. He _hates _that place.'

'Well then, I don't see where else you can go then. You won't go to any _normal _places to take him on a date.'

'Why can't you just drop it, James?'

'Because I'm your best friend and I want you to be able to go on a date with your own bloody boyfriend!' James hissed at him, his eyes darting around to check for any unwanted passersby as he spoke.

'Well maybe you should just let it go; it's got nothing to do with you James, so just back off.'

'Both of you shut up for two seconds.' Lily snapped in frustration, glancing between the two young men as she spoke. 'James,' she began firmly. 'I know that you're just trying to help them but it's not your problem. If Sirius doesn't want to go on a date with-'

'-I didn't bloody well say that!' Sirius growled. 'Stop putting words into my mouth.'

'So you _do _want to go on a date then?' she asked.

'Yes I do, okay.'

'Then don't think about it, just do it. You'll only regret it if you don't.'

'Lily, you know it's not that simple.'

'I know that you don't want to be seen, so just...go somewhere you won't be seen.'

'Like where?'

'I don't know...you're a Marauder aren't you?'

'Of course I am!' he insisted firmly.

'Well then, use your imagination.' She smiled softly and with a quick tug on James arm they both continued along the corridor, leaving Sirius to ponder his own thoughts...

'Sirius, would you perhaps like to inform me _why _we are going to Honeydukes on a Saturday night?' his boyfriend sighed as they made their way along the familiar secret passageway. 'I told Lily that I would help her with her essay for Professor Burse. She was giving up her first Saturday night off in a long time, you know, and this seems like a pretty poor way to repay her for it.'

'She's not actually missing anything though; James knows what I'm doing so she'll get to spend her night with her boyfriend anyway.'HHhd

'James isn't going to help her though is he?' Remus reminded him as the passage began to rise.

'Of course he will, he'll just have to hunt around the dorms for _your _essay to draw inspiration from.' He joked but Remus looked far from amused at the idea, so Sirius shot him his best apologetic look and stole a quick kiss from the scarred young man before eventually coming to a stop, at the end of the passage.

He pushed up the familiar trap door and glanced quickly around the room before climbing out, with Remus shortly behind him, and placing the trap door down once more. Sirius shot another quick glance, this time towards the wooden staircase, and could hear the sound of music drifting in, he assumed, from the flat above Honeydukes sweet shop.

'We can't go anywhere without alerting them to us being here. So unless you plan on sitting in this cellar then it really was a wasted journey.'

'Well, it's not a wasted journey because we _are_ going to spend time in cellar.' He smiled proudly.

'Why?' Remus asked suspiciously. 'This better not be part of a prank Sirius, because that poor couple don't deserve to have anything happen to their stock.'

'You worry too much Remy,' he smiled affectionately. 'I have no intentions of pulling a prank or upsetting the wonderful owners whose cellar we will currently occupy without their knowledge.'

'What if they hear us and come down?' Remus began worriedly.

'_That_ is why I love the invention of silence charms so much.' Sirius grinned widely as he pulled out his wand and began performing the charm happily. He then proceeded to move forward, placing the invisibility cloak that had borrowed from James as a precaution down upon one of the large crates, along with the Marauders' Map.

'Sirius, why are we here?' Remus asked in bewilderment.

'Because Remus, I decided it was time that we did something we should have done a long time ago, and this was the best I could come up with for it.'

'What?'

'We, Remus John Lupin, are about to have our first official date.' He smiled, portraying more confidence than he actually felt as he looked around the cellar. He had made the point of bringing some food from the castle earlier that day – which he had carefully stored behind some crates that he didn't think would be disturbed – and had even snuck out for some firewhisky too.

'A date?' Remus repeated dumbly, apparently a date had been the last thing Remus has suspected and Sirius nodded enthusiastically and pulled Remus closer to the crate he had placed James' invisibility cloak on, and encouraged him to sit down in front a large crate.. He then summoned the food and firewhisky towards them happily as he sat down next to his highly surprised looking boyfriend.

'Our first date, fully supplied with food and firewhisky.' He smiled hopefully and was grateful to see Remus' eyes light up in apparent amusement and gratitude.

'So, we're going to have out first date in a _cellar_.' The pale young man chuckled and Sirius only grinned further.

'Why yes Remus, yes we are. After all, I assume you wouldn't prefer to go to Madame Puddifoot's instead?'

'No, I think I'm quite fine here, thank you very much.' Remus laughed as he took a sip of his own firewhisky. Sirius laughed in return and quickly began heating up their food.

'You know, I reckon that finding the Kitchens was one of our best discoveries.' Remus smiled as they began eating.

'One of? Remus, the Kitchens is _by far _the best discovery that we've ever made.'

'But what about this passage to Honeydukes? Where ever would you be if you'd had to wait until Hogsmeade trips to get more Sugar Quills?' Remus' eyes were dancing with amusement as he spoke and Sirius felt incredibly happy that his idea hadn't been rejected in any way.'

'Ah, I do see your point there Remy. I would undoubtedly have gone mad if that were the case.' He sighed dramatically and Remus chuckled lightly at his display.

'Now Remus, can you imagine what the best possible perk about having a date in Honeydukes cellar is?' he asked animatedly.

'Do tell.' Remus laughed, displaying a crooked smile as he waited for Sirius' answer.

'Well, you see Remus. There is a rather unlimited supply of Honeydukes chocolate surrounding us in these very crates.' Remus' eyes lit up instantly at those words, apparently having not realised the potential of them being the Honeydukes cellar before Sirius had mentioned it.

'But we can't just-' Remus began awkwardly.

'-No need to worry Remus, I'll leave plenty of money to replace whatever we eat...and take away. Borrowed it off James until I get a chance to go to Gringotts and get money for myself.'

'I don't know Sirius; I wouldn't feel right to-'

'-Nonsense Remus,' Sirius said with a dismissive wave of the hand. 'What's mine is yours, and you might as well just get used to that because that's the way it's staying.' He smiled warmly and was rewarded by a quick kiss from his boyfriend before they returned to their meal.

It wasn't long before they had finished all the food, drunk a fair amount of firewhisky and helped themselves to a large quantity of sweets from the cellar. Unsure just how much they had eaten, Sirius made sure to leave a small bag full of money atop one of the crates to cover whatever expenses it would normally have cost them in the shop.

He had to admit, he'd rather enjoyed his first date with Remus, even if it was a silly date in a sweet shop cellar. In all honesty, there were probably fewer places that would have better suited the pair. Remus could help himself to as much chocolate as humanly possible and Sirius had filled the pockets of his cloak with enough Sugar Quills to last several weeks. Before long they were standing in the middle of the room, swaying back and forth together in time with the music that could still be heard from above them.

'Sirius,' his boyfriend sighed contentedly into his shoulder and Sirius gave little reply other a small noise to confirm he was listening. 'Thank you, for all this. I certainly wasn't expecting it. It's a nice change...'

'You're most certainly welcome, Remus. I know it's not exactly a top class date and whatnot...but it's something, right?'

'It certainly is, it might not be a perfect dating location but...it's perfect for us.' The paler youth chuckled and Sirius immediately lowered his head to place a small kiss on his boyfriend's scarred neck, breathing in that wonderful smell that belonged solely to Remus.

'I'm sorry it couldn't be somewhere nicer, Remy. I swear, once we leave Hogwarts I'll take you somewhere really nice.'

'You don't need to spend lots of money or go anywhere fancy to prove anything, Sirius. I'd be perfectly happy to spend the rest of my life on low budget dates in incredibly random locations-'

'-in sweet shop cellars?' Sirius joked lightly as he held Remus closer to him still.

'In sweet shop cellars.' Remus agreed with a chuckle. 'I don't mind, as long as I'm with you.'

'I love you _so _much Remus,' he murmured, holding Remus tightly to him and trying his best not to think about the upcoming war that they would soon be joining.

'I love you too, Sirius.' Remus smiled softly, and the two young men continued to sway to the music from above. Perfectly content to stay there, rocking back and forth in each other's comforting embrace.

**Okay, so I got the next chapter done. It felt strange to be away from my computer so long whilst I was on holiday but I'm back now so yay! :)**

**Also, if anyone's interested I've posted a new one-shot about Sirius and Regulus as children, give it a read it you have the time :) It's dedicated to Chili Loves You :)**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Vampykitty-kun**

**DandyDandelion**

**PharaohDeli**

**DarkestAngel13**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL**

**ClatuVrata**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**xharrypotterismylifex**

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**hp-scribbler**

**I'd also like to add an extra thanks to hp scribbler for reviewing so many chapters while I was gone :) It was a very nice surprise for my return!**

**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviewers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	84. Chapter 84 Grave News

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters **

'Reeeeeeeemmmuuuuuusssssss, I'm bored.' He complained loudly as he flopped down upon their bed, for what could easily have been the twentieth time in fifteen minutes. They were currently sat in their dimly lit dormitory, it had been the first dry and vaguely sunny Saturday in weeks, and they had spent most of it inside. So, naturally, Sirius had completely exhausted himself of things to do.

'You've got plenty of work to keep you busy, Sirius.' The pale young man replied calmly, not even bothering to look up from his own work.

'But, I've got another three days before the Transfiguration assignment's due. As for the other ones, well, I can get away with handing them in late anyway.'

'Well, if you have nothing better to do, then you may as well get started on your assignment anyway.'

'But I do have better things to do.' He smirked widely.

'Well, if you have better things to do then why, Sirius, aren't you doing just that?' Remus sighed, looking highly exasperated as he tried to continue his own work.

'I have better things to do, but that doesn't mean that I _can _do them.'

'And why, exactly, can't you do them?' Remus played along. The pale young man's voice was incredibly calm, but the amusement in his eyes showed that he knew exactly what Sirius was leading up to.

'Well, the thing isn't really a thing, you see.' Sirius grinned enthusiastically.

'Oh really,' Remus smiled. 'What is it then?'

'You.' He concluded simply and watched as Remus raised his eyes, finally, from his own work. Remus had that small smile that always seemed to adorn his face when he was trying his best not to show his amusement.

'Sirius, as much as I'd love to go along with your request, this Ancient Runes essay is due in on Monday morning. It's my first class of the day.'

'You'll have all day tomorrow to write it then.' He shrugged.

'I'm studying Herbology with James tomorrow, you know that.'

'Well...' he began trying to think up something that would help him. 'You've already wrote more than you were asked to anyway.' He smirked triumphantly.

'I need the extra credit, Sirius. I didn't do very well on the last essay that the Professor set, you know that.'

'He sprang it on you two days before the full moon, _and_ expected it in the day after the full moon. It was completely unreasonable; he _knew _that you wouldn't be able to get it in on time.'

'He can't change his plans specifically to suit my needs, Sirius.'

'He bloody well should! All the other teachers manage to coordinate assignments fine.'

'Sirius,' his boyfriend began with a small smile, his eyes now locked directly on him as he spoke. 'That was the first time that is has ever happened, it was not, by any stretch of the imagination, deliberate and to change it once he realised his error would have been suspicious.'

'I still think he's an idiot.'

'He is a Professor, Sirius.' Remus' eyes rolled, as he had expected, whilst he spoke.

'That doesn't mean he's not an idiot. What about that crazy old hag who teaches Arithmancy? She's a Professor but _she's_ still incredibly dumb.'

'I can't believe that I'm doing this.' Remus sighed in exasperation.

'What?'

'Letting _you_ distract me.'

'Okay, since you need the extra credit I will shut up completely.'

'Really?'

'Probably not, but I'll try.' He teased with a smirk.

It was at the precise moment that James came thudding into the dormitory looking far from happy, and incredibly tempted to break something.

'Well hello there, Prongs. What, my dearest friend, has got you in such huff?'

'I'm not in the mood Sirius,' the bespectacled friend warned him unhappily.

'Neither is Remus apparently, if you know what I mean.' He quipped suggestively, his grin only widening further when Remus kicked his foot playfully for his comment, that small smile had appeared once more on the scarred young man's face and served only to encourage Sirius.

'That...that!' James' arms flailed madly as he spoke, apparently unable to turn his frustration into words.

'Very helpful,' Sirius informed him mockingly, his head nodding wildly in false agreement. 'I know just what you mean.' However, when James' eyes connected with his he instantly realised that James was indeed quite troubled by something.

'James, sit down, calm down and then talk.' Remus instructed him quietly, all amusement now gone from his eyes which were now undoubtedly full of concern.

'Where's Pete?' James asked unexpectedly, looking around the room in confusion. Sirius supposed that his friend was merely finding something else to talk about, until he felt able to speak calmly about whatever was bothering him. As James' best friend, of course, he felt it was his duty to allow the messy haired young man this small moment to gather his thoughts.

'He's off with that girlfriend of his again.' Sirius shrugged half heartedly. 'He left not too long after you and Lily actually.'

'Well, she was in the Entrance Hall fifteen minutes ago when I was there on rounds.' James replied looking confused. Sirius felt immediately suspicious of this and was just about to add to James' statement when Remus suddenly interrupted them.

'James, we can talk about Peter later. What is it that got you so wound up before you came up here?'

'McGonagall!' James replied instantly, his face contorting into an image of confusion and anger as soon as he uttered the name.

'What about her?' Sirius sighed as he shuffled back to lie down next to Remus, and immediately began to rest his head on the pillows.

'She came and took Lily off of her patrol and then she said she needed to speak to her in private. She wouldn't let me come with them either!' James complained indignantly.

'Well that _is_ the general point of a _private conversation_.' He snorted, rolling his eyes back at his friend's words.

'Lily _is _my girlfriend though; she doesn't keep things from me. So she would tell me anyway.'

'Yes, but McGonagall isn't allowed to just assume that Lily wouldn't mind you knowing whatever they are talking about.' Remus reminded the messy haired young man.

'She'll tell you when she gets up here anyway.' Sirius shrugged. 'I don't see what the problem is.'

'But it's bugging me.' James huffed loudly. 'Imagine if McGonagall randomly appeared and dragged Remus off to have a private conversation, wouldn't you want to know what was so important that it couldn't wait?'

Sirius immediately felt his stomach tighten with apprehension as an idea struck him. But then...surely they would know of such things...it would have been in the Prophet for sure, those types of things always were these days...

'Sirius?' he looked up to see Remus staring at him questioningly, his essay apparently forgotten as he gazed into Sirius' eyes.

'Oh Merlin...' he found himself whispering worriedly, his eyes betraying him by silently conveying his thoughts to his boyfriend.

'You don't think...' Remus' question remained unfinished at his eyes filled with understanding and worry.

'Would someone like to tell me what the _bloody hell_ you two are thinking about? It's like some form of silent communication with you two.' James now had his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed as he looked at them, clearly unhappy to apparently not be _in the loop_, so to speak.

'Who's got the Map?' Sirius asked firmly, as he sat up once more and jumped to his feet.

'Um...Pete's got the Map, last time I checked.' The bespectacled young man replied slowly, his eyes now filling with both concern and confusion at the lack of explanation from his best friend.

'Dammit! Right, James. When did Lily go with McGonagall?'

'I don't know...about twenty minutes ago?'

'It is quite likely that she will still be in McGongall's office then.' Remus said, standing up quickly.

'Can someone please let me into the general train of thought here?' James demanded unhappily.

'James, think about it...' Sirius began gravely. 'There have been quite a few people taken out of classes lately to have eh...private conversations, with their Head of House.' James' eyes suddenly held a great deal of recognition, realisation was apparently now dawning on him and his face showed at utmost expression of horror as the idea registered fully in his mind.

'You think that...' James broke off, apparently not wanting to finish the sentence as if it would be some form of jinx to do so.

'I hope not...' he whispered sadly, feeling his shoulders tighten with tension.

'We need to go meet her.' James began quickly. 'If we leave now we can probably get there before-' but his voice stopped dead at the sound of a small, half-hearted knock on the dormitory door. James moved instantly, practically throwing himself forward and reached out to grasp the door handle as tightly as one would expect someone to grasp their own wand during a battle, before promptly tearing back the wooden door.

What Sirius saw next was something that he had hoped never to see; Lily Evans, her eyes red and puffy and her body shaking almost uncontrollably. Then finally, the mind numbingly long silence-which, in reality, was probably only seconds long-was broken by a loud, strangled sounding sob, as the green eyed witch threw herself forward into James' arms, breaking down almost instantly on contact with her boyfriend.

Sirius could only stand by helplessly, as he watched James wrap his arms tightly around the shaking witch, pulling her tightly to him and lifting her up, before carrying her over to his bed. He sat down gently without uttering a single word and allowed her to sit in his lap, curling tightly into his chest as she continued sobbing loudly, tears running rapidly down her currently pale face with every second that passed.

'T-they...M-McGonag-gall...' she burst into a fresh wave of tears at her attempt, and James instantly began stroking her long red hair in a comforting manner, waiting patiently for her to regain her ability to form a full sentence, or at least an understandable one. Sirius couldn't help but think that Lily looked tiny in her current position, all but curled into a ball as she cuddled into James, like a small child taking comfort in a loved one after some terrible nightmare.

'T-they...they're dead.' She choked out between sobs. 'M-my p-p-parents,' James' eyes rose immediately to look at both Sirius and Remus in turn, full of uncertainty and confusion. He was clearly begging them for some kind of help, some idea as to what he could possibly say or do to help the situation. But, in reality, there was nothing any of them could say or do which could possibly help in any way. Nothing they could possibly say that would give the redhead her parents back, or take away the pain that she was undoubtedly in.

'Lily, Lily, Lily...' James whispered softly, pressing his lips tenderly at the base of her ear, kissing the skin gently as he whispered to her.

'It...it was a-another attack, another on-on m-m-muggleborn's families.' Sirius immediately felt his stomach tighten again, to almost sickening extent. He couldn't believe he was actually related to the type of people who could support or inflict such suffering and pain on innocent people. The type of people who could brutally murder others, for no reason other than because they weren't good enough in the eyes of those sick bastards...

Walking forward slowly, Sirius finally reached James' bed, with Remus not far behind him, and sat hesitantly down upon the covers which, as usual, were spread out in disarray. Lily looked up instantly, and the pain that her eyes held was truly heart-breaking to see.

'Oh, Petal.' He breathed sadly and reached out to wipe away some stray tears. 'I know it doesn't change anything but...I'm _so _sorry that this happened to you. I mean, none of us ever got the chance to meet your mum, but we did meet your dad and he was a great guy, Lily.'

'He's right Lily,' James whispered. 'Your dad was a great guy, and sure, we never met your mum...but if she was anything like you then I'm sure she was one of the most wonderful people anyone could ever have known.' James' words seemed to have stirred more emotion in the witch who began a brand new wave of sobs, her face screwed up tightly in internal pain.

'J-James...' she choked tearfully. 'Can I...can I st-stay h-here to-tonight?'

'Of course you can,' James replied softly. 'Why don't we get comfy, yeah? You should get some sleep...if you can.'

'I-I don't want to sleep, not y-yet at least.' The redhead practically whimpered, but she moved from James' embrace, allowing him to pull back the covers for her to crawl under. She looked expectantly at James who seemed uncertain whether it was acceptable or not for him to join her, but after another glance at her pleading eyes he dutifully followed her, his arms wrapping tightly around her once more as she tucked her head under James' own and let out a small, shaky breath.

'We'll talk tomorrow Lily, okay?' Remus added softly. Lily looked up, her beautiful green eyes full of the tears that were yet to come. The pale young man then leant forward, placing a delicate kiss upon her tearstained cheek, and she gave a small, watery eyed nod in agreement. Sirius immediately felt unsure about what he should do, he felt completely useless. Sure, he could comfort Remus when he needed to, and to a lesser extent he supposed he could have done so for James also. But Lily, well, Lily he had _no_ _idea _how to go about comforting. The worst part was that she currently looked so small and fragile in James' embrace that he wouldn't have been surprised if she had miraculously broken just as easily as a china doll would.

'Goodnight, Lily.' Remus said softly, a small sad smile now floating upon his scarred face.

'Yeah, goodnight Lily.' Sirius added pointlessly, and reached out to give her hand a small squeeze. She gave a small watery smile at this, and without bothering to return the words to either of them, she turned further to curl up James' arms. Her eyes instantly closed tightly as she took comfort in her boyfriend's embrace.

'Goodnight, James.' Remus added quietly, and Sirius quickly followed with his own "_goodnight_", before both he and Remus turned back towards their own bed, barely hearing James' quick whisper of a silencing charm, giving them a small form of privacy.

He undressed silently and sat down softly upon their bed, his thoughts now clouded as he worried about the redhead, who he had become rather attached to. Remus soon joined him, undressing and closing the hangings surrounding their bed. He then began picking up his essay, book and quills from before and placing them on the bedside cabinet.

'Suddenly, I can't seem to find the willpower to continue with that essay, it all seems rather pointless now.' The pale young man sighed as Sirius shuffled up to rest against the headboard, before quickly shifting himself in order to rest against him. Sirius instinctively wrapped his arms around the other young man, tucking his head down to leave a small kiss on his boyfriend's scarred neck. He reached his hand quickly into his own pocket, pulling out his wand and casting a silence charm of his own. Not wanting their talking to disturb the grieving of their friend.

'I know what you mean,' Sirius sighed softly. 'It all seems...meaningless when people are dying all around us.'

'Yes, especially since...' Remus trailed off quietly, and it wasn't until Sirius prodded him slightly, that he chose to continue. 'Well, it doesn't really matter how well I do in classes anyway, I'm still going to leave school without a hope of getting a job...'

'Don't be ridiculous, Remus.' He said firmly, turning slightly, to look properly into his boyfriend's eyes. 'You're going to work really hard, like you always do and you're going to get amazing grades. Then, when the rest of the world catches up and stops being prejudiced gits, you'll be at the front of the queue with your amazing marks ready to get a top notch job.'

'I very much doubt that will ever happen, Sirius.' The other young man sighed as he pushed Sirius back to the position he'd been in before and rested his head on his chest.

'Well, we already said we'd join this _Order of the Phoenix _thing that Dumbledore's setting up when we leave school.' Sirius reminded him softly. 'Then, once we win this pointless war over nothing, James and I, with our mountains of wealth, can start up our own business and you can work with us.' Remus sat up instantly at those words, turning to face Sirius with tear-filled eyes, and gazing at him with such affection that Sirius felt his chest tighten with emotion.

'Really?' Remus whispered softly.

'If that's the only way to get you a job, then yes, I will make sure James gets of his arse and helps me start up a business. Hell, we can even rope Pete in as well,' He smiled warmly at the overjoyed expression on Remus' face. 'The Marauders; partners in crime and in business,' He joked lightly. 'Except Lily, of course, I'm sure she'll go on to be some wonderful professional, hell she'll probably be a healer or something.' He chuckled.

'You have no idea how much it means to me that you would be willing to do all that to give me a job.'

'Of course I'd give you a bloody job, Remus.' He rolled his eyes. 'If James and I tried to manage it on our own we'd probably mess up insanely and get into debt, despite out current mountains of wealth. James doesn't quite understand the concept of money running out.' He laughed.

'Once the war's over?' Remus murmured softly and leaned forward, pressing his lips lightly on Sirius' jaw.

'Yeah, as soon as we get revenge on those sick bastards for Lily.' Sirius agreed quietly, closing his eyes and just enjoying the feel of his boyfriend's lips trailing softly over his skin. He felt horrible, enjoying such a simple pleasure when Lily was in the next bed grieving over the death of her parents. Out of everybody's parents, he would have wished death upon his own first, and now...well, now they would have to be extra strong for Lily and be there for her at all times. They, along with Lily's snooty sister were the only family that the redhead had left.

'Everything seems so much darker now, so much more...real.' Remus whispered quietly as he stopped the trail of kisses, his face nestling into Sirius' hair as he spoke. 'People are dying, Sirius. And not just random names of no real meaning. When the names are suddenly familiar, it all seems so much worse...'

'I know, but I swear Remy, I'll do everything I can to keep you safe. I wouldn't let anyone hurt you, I'd rather die first.'

'Don't say that.' Remus murmured shakily. 'I don't know what I'd do without you.'

'Well you don't have to worry about that anytime soon, Remy. We'll be extremely grey-haired and wrinkled before that problem arises.' Remus chuckled lightly in response to his words and shuffled closer still.

'Maybe I'll be grey-haired, but I reckon you'll go bald.' Remus joked and Sirius gave a gasp of mock horror.

'Apologise to the hair, Remus.' He said with mock indignation, pointing wildly at his long black hair as he spoke.

'You're not serious,' Remus rolled his eyes.

'I am most definitely Sirius.' He joked half-heartedly.

'That is a terrible, terrible pun.' Remus shook his head with a small smile.

'Well, I have to make a point of using it occasionally; it would be an insult to my own name otherwise.' He shrugged.

'Fine, but that's your yearly usage up. You have to wait until next year before you can use it again without getting hit.' Remus chuckled. But his amusement disappeared within seconds, and look of horror passed over his expression.

'What's wrong?'

'We're joking around like nothing has happened, when Lily's most likely in the next bed crying her eyes out.' Sirius felt immediate guilt at Remus' words and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

'This isn't right...we're barely eighteen and trapped in the midst of a full on war.' He sighed.

' And our whole group has the perfect makings of targets; two blood traitors, a Half-blood, a Muggleborn and a Werewolf.' Remus whispered gravely.

'Every one of those things has no real meaning, Remus. Every one of them are simply stupid, pathetic excuses for a bunch of creeps to inflict pain and suffering on people. If none of those things existed then they would find something else. It's all just worthless attempts at justification.'

'I know, but that doesn't make it any less scary...' Remus whispered fearfully.

'Well, don't think about it.' Sirius replied quietly, pulling the other young man even closer to him than before, until Remus was practically atop him and looking at him with such a mixture of worry and affection that it was all Sirius could do not to just kiss him there and then. 'We just need to keep our heads, we need to not waste whatever time we all might have left. We need to enjoy the safety of Hogwarts, while we still have it.'

Remus' eyes filled with more unshed emotion, and Sirius was almost certain that the same emotion would be reflected in his own eyes. He then proceeded to flip them over, so that Remus was now the one lying down upon the mattress, and began kissing softly across the other's collar bone and down his boyfriend's scarred chest, before leading back up to kiss those soft lips, and then finally shifted onto his side in order to rest his head on Remus' chest, drawing in a shaky breath as he thought about the world they would soon be entering. But for now, he was content to lie in his boyfriend's embrace and pretend the world was still a happy place...at least for a little while.

**Sorry for the delay, I was a bit uncertain when I started this chapter...hopefully it turned out okay...let me know what you think :) I'm going to be posting the fourth and final chapter of "Mini Prong's Big Day Out" at some point today. So...yeah, people should check that out if they haven't already, I fixed it up a bit too cus it was a bit of a shambles before :P It's mostly about Sirius and Remus and starring baby Harry a.k.a. Mini Prongs :P**

**Also I just noticed that this story has now been added (as of the 17****th**** of July 2010) to another community, this one; "Harry Potter Central! All The Best Stories" and I am extremely happy, excited and grateful to itachifangirl2424 for this :) So this story is now part of both that and also the community "Anything REMUS!" which was created by EdwardLovesMe (who I have missed quite a lot since her disappearance) so I am VERY happy that my story is liked enough to be in these communities – ILY!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'm just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

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**And also a big thanks to CryptoSquirrel who has been reviewing earlier chapters – much appreciated! :)**

**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviewers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	85. Chapter 85 To Lily's We Go

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters**

The concept of pretending the world was a happy place didn't last for long. He hadn't ever expected it to, not really. One week after the deaths of Mr and Mrs Evans, Sirius found himself stood outside the small and familiar house that he had visited the previous summer. As it was now the start of the Easter time holidays, they had all chosen to leave Hogwarts for the brief period, meaning that Lily didn't need to ask permission to leave during the days surrounding her parents' funeral.

Sirius felt extremely odd as they reached the door, he had never even met Mrs Evans and, even with Mr Evans, he had only met him once. However, Lily had been extremely determined that she wanted them all there, at the funeral. He supposed it was more for moral support than anything else, a comfort thing. And, being the loyal friend he was, he was more than willing to stand by her and make the occasional joke if it was needed.

'Oh Merlin...' the redhead whispered frantically. She seemed close to tears as she stood at the still closed door, and Sirius couldn't help but note her choice of words. Being a muggleborn, Lily tended not to use wizarding phrases very often, it was clear that the amount of time she spent with James in particular, as well as the other Marauders, had effected the terms that she used in every day speech. He supposed they'd all have to be very careful about their choice of word and phrases during their stay.

With a final look of determination she reached out her hand and grasped the door handle, but it didn't open. The door was locked. She then gave a small, weak chuckle. It was clear that she was clearly unsure how to react, but she knocked firmly on the door and waited patiently. It wasn't long before the door opened, revealing Petunia Evans; she looked even thinner than the last time they had seen her, and her hair had been pinned back so perfectly that Sirius couldn't believe she had managed it without magic. He couldn't help but wonder how she could possibly have kept her appearance so trimmed and perfect during a time of such grief.

'I suppose you'll want to stay here tonight then,' Petunia said tersely. 'We don't have room for all..._these people_ though.' She referred to them in a tone that sounded almost pained, as if she was horrified at the mere idea of them staying in the house.

'These people are my friends, and guests.' Lily said firmly, her eyes flashing warningly.

'Petunia, was that the door I heard?' a voice called through to them as they entered the house.

'Yes, Vernon. Lilyhas arrived with hereh...friends.' Petunia called quickly. 'We'll be through in a minute.' she seemed to be putting on a fake pleasant tone and she suddenly pulled the door to the sitting room shut, turning to face them all suspiciously.

'I don't want anything _unusual_ going on around here. No..._magic_.' her voice strained at the word, almost as if it disgusted her, as she glanced at them all.

'Of course not, we're not allowed to do magic in front of muggles.' Sirius rolled his eyes.

'Muggles!' Petunia hissed hysterically. '_How dare you_.'

'It's not an insult.' James added in quickly. 'It's just what we call people who don't have magic in them.' Petunia's eyes narrowed unhappily and she broke away from them without a word, heading back into the sitting room.

'Wow, she seems just as pleasant as I remember.' Sirius snorted unhappily.

'Please, be nice.' Lily pleaded with him. 'I know you didn't exactly take to her before, but it's my parents funeral later on and-'

'-I'd never be nasty to her at your parent's funeral.' Sirius declared disbelievingly, he couldn't even think how to express his shock that she would think such a thing.

'I don't mean anything by it Sirius,' she assured him. 'It's just that...well, you don't tend to realise how you treat people at times.' He couldn't help but feel slightly offended at her words but he wasn't going to call her on her comments, not today of all days.

They made their way into the main room of the house, and Sirius was shocked to see that the usually tranquil room was free from any form of candles that usually adorned it, and seemed so incredibly clean that he instantly worried about dirtying the room in some way.

'Why are all the candles gone?' Lily whispered out loud, as she stared straight at Petunia questioningly.

'The wake is being held here after the funeral, and I didn't think they really looked right.'

'But...Mum _always _has candles out. She wouldn't want you to change that.'

'She wouldn't want to be _dead_!' Petunia hissed suddenly, before apparently regaining some form of control over herself. 'It's just material things anyway, we don't need them.'

Lily seemed unable to control her emotions any longer and turned away from her sister as a few stray tears fell down he cheeks, leaving thin wet trails on her usually perfect face. James immediately wrapped his arms around her and she placed her head upon his shoulders, searching for comfort.

It was at that precise moment that a rather beefy young man walked through from the Kitchen carrying a plateful of sandwhiches. He put on an incredibly fake-in Sirius' opinion-smile and held out a large hand to James who was closest to him.

'Vernon Dursley.' He introduced himself immediately.

'Oh, um...James Potter.' The bespectacled young man replied distractedly, he was clearly far too caught up on comforting Lily to care at that moment. But the redhead moved from his arms and smiled weakly at Vernon.

'How lovely to see you again, Vernon.' She smiled, but Sirius got the distinct feeling that she didn't like him in the slightest.

'Hmm, unfortunately not on better terms though.' The large man replied, his blue eyes piercing each of them curiously in turn. Sirius was surprised to say the least, of all the people in the world, this _Vernon_ bloke was as far away as possible from the image he would have conjured himself of any potential boyfriend of Petunia's. Petunia always seemed to want everything to be perfect and...well, Vernon was far from perfect.

'Sorry,' Lily added quickly, shaking her head in disbelief at herself. 'Guys, this is Vernon. He's Petunia's boyfriend.' She then smiled weakly at Vernon. 'Vernon, well um, James already introduced himself. He's _my _boyfriend.' Petunia looked James over disapprovingly at her words, her eyes lingering on his messy hair as if its untidy appearance was causing her pain. 'And these are my friends; Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.' She nodded to each of them in turn and Vernon nodded briefly in recognition.

'Unusual names,' Vernon commented, nodding towards Sirius and Remus.

'Well, that's what happens with these um...border school types.' Petunia said quickly in an attempted explanation.

Unfortunately Vernon had the exact same reaction as Petunia had the summer before, and his eyes seemed to flicker towards Remus curiously ever few minutes. Sirius could feel himself beginning to tense, and was very close to making a comment about the young man – although he was clearly a few years older than Sirius himself – when Lily had suddenly taken his hand and pulled him towards the hallway, telling Petunia that she was going to show her guests her room.

They all made their way along the hallway and began ascending the stairs – where several pictures of the Evans' hung proudly – until they eventually reached the top floor and made their way along to her room. The door to her room was painted white and bore the word _Lily _in yellow paint, also on the door was a image of a flower that Sirius assumed was supposed to resemble a lily – unfortunately it didn't look like one at all and Sirius resisted the urge to laugh, after all, it was a nice gesture for someone to try.

She opened the door to her room and they all made their way inside, although the room felt incredibly cramped with all five of them in the room. Peter, of course, looked the most awkward out of the group and was standing by the door and fiddling with his finger aimlessly. Sirius supposed he couldn't really blame Pete for feeling awkward, I mean, he himself felt awkward, as if he shouldn't _really _have been there at all.

'Sorry for dragging you all off like that.' Lily sighed as she sat down upon her bed, her eyes trailing around her room sadly. Lily's room was fairly small with little more than a bed, a desk and a bookshelf. In one corner of her room, however, was a pile of stuffed animals; they varied vastly in shape, sizes, colours and types. But they all seemed to be sorted out perfectly into little rows, balancing on top of each other. 'I could tell Vernon was agitating you.' She added to Sirius softly. She then turned her eyes to Remus apologetically and opened her mouth to begin speaking.

'Everyone stares at me, at first at least.' Remus supplied calmly. 'It's nothing to worry about, honestly.'

'It's bloody annoying though.' Sirius added bitterly. 'What the hell does it have to do with anyone else anyway?'

'There are more important things to think about, Sirius.' Remus said quietly from where he was perched on the edge of Lily's bed.

'Look, Lily. If we're in the way then I could always rent out rooms at the Leaky Cauldron. I don't think your sister is particularly keen on us hanging around.' He told her quietly. 'It's probably better anyway; I'm likely to mess up at some point with magic.'

'Mum and Dad wouldn't mind people staying.' James suggested with a smile. 'In fact, I'd reckon they'd love it if everyone went there with me.' He seemed to instantly regret his words, his face turning pale as he finished his sentence and his eyes widening in horror. 'Um...that is...I mean, sorry.'

'You can talk about your parents James,' Lily smiled weakly. 'I'm not going to resent the fact that your parents are alive.'

'I know but, I feel really insensitive.'

'You've always been insensitive Jamsie, she's used to it.' Sirius teased his friend lightly. 'Actually James, I'm surprised you can even speak right now, how many years have you fantasised about being in this room?' He was automatically hit over the head playfully by Lily, who rolled her eyes at his comment but smiled nonetheless.

A few hours later Sirius found himself sitting on horribly uncomfortable wooden chairs as the funeral slowly passed. James had sat with Lily at the front to offer her moral support, but the others had decided it was best if they sat at the back, allowing those who had known the couple properly to get seats further forward. As he looked around the room he felt horribly out of place, these people were all in a state of deep mourning. But Sirius, well, he didn't know what to feel. He didn't really _know _them well enough to be truly devastated by their deaths, but the pain that it was causing Lily was enough to make him feel a little messed up inside.

Petunia and Lily both took the stand at different times, each taking their turn to share their memories and speak words of pain and of longing, longing for their parents return; the return that would never occur. By the time Lily had finished her speech she had went completely off track from the original words that she had written, Sirius knew this because she had let them all look over it earlier. She had also ended up half crying as she finished her speech, stumbling back to her seat as an emotional wreck and shakily singing the last song of the day along with everyone else.

The three young men stood, along with everyone else, and exited the room, grateful to be out in the fresh air once more as they waited for James and Lily to make their way outside. They did, and Lily had an expression on her face that was mixed between confusion, hurt and anger.

'How're you holding up, Petal?' Sirius asked quietly and held out his arms to give the redhead a hug. She accepted instantly and cuddled into him like a small child. 'Okay, now I'm a little bit worried here, Petal.' He teased lightly before looking up to meet James' eyes. He and James were closer than most people, and he knew perfectly well when James was deliberately restraining himself from saying or doing something, and it was quite clear that he was.

'What's wrong?' he asked immediately.

'Petunia's being a git.' He said simply. 'She's barely even acknowledging Lily.'

'Why?' he couldn't understand what Lily could possibly have done to upset her.

'I don't know, she's just being really..._off_ with me.'

'She's probably just lost in her own thoughts.' Remus added in softly and Lily looked up at the pale young man hopefully, clearly praying that it was simply that.

'Yeah, she's probably just busy thinking about everything for the wake.' Peter piped in weakly, clearly unsure what to say but wanting to add something.

'I suppose...' Lily sighed miserably. 'Are you all coming to the wake?'

'I don't know, Petal...it'd be a bit weird, don't you think?' Sirius pondered aloud.

'What he means,' Remus began. 'Is that we didn't really know your parents, we came to the funeral but...perhaps the wake should be left for family and friends, we wouldn't want to intrude on their grief.'

'I guess I can understand that.' She nodded. 'You'll come with me though, right James?' Lily had always been so strong and independent, and in all honesty it was quite scary to see her suddenly so dependent on his best friend.

'Of course I will. I wouldn't leave you to go through that alone.' The green eyed witch's shoulder lost some of their previous tension in apparent relief. James quickly reached out a brushed away a few of the small tear drops that were still on her face and she leaned instantly into his touch, revelling in the comfort that he was so quick in offering.

'Well, we'll get going then.' Sirius told them quietly.

'You are going back to my house, right? Mum and Dad will want to see you.'

'Yeah, are you going to come afterwards?'

'Um...yeah, I don't think Petunia's particularly keen on me staying.'

'I'm not keen on Vernon staying but he's staying.' Lily replied simply.

'I don't want to cause an argument between the two of you.' James sighed, running a hand through his hair awkwardly.

'Okay, I suppose you're right...'

'Everyone's things are at Lily's house, I'll bring them over with me later on.' James supplied informed the three Marauders.

'Well, we'll be seeing you later then James.' He smiled sympathetically as they began walking along the street to go somewhere quieter to apparate; personally Sirius wouldn't wish a night with Petunia on anyone, never mind his best friend.

'Sirius, oh it's lovely to see you, dear.' Sirius smiled happily as the familiar aging witch approached him. She opened her arms automatically to him and, despite his momentary unease at contact with someone other than the Marauders, he allowed her to pull him into her warm embrace. 'I wasn't sure whether or not you boys would come. I'm glad you managed to though, it's always so nice to have you boys over.'

'It's great to see you too, Mrs P' he grinned. 'How've you been?'

'Oh, I'm been okay dear. Oh my, honestly Sirius every time I see you, you seem to have grown even more than the last time.'

'It's the Hogwarts food; I swear they put some form of growth potion in it.' He joked with a smile.

'Remus, Peter. My dears, it's lovely to see you again. I think Sirius might just be right about those growth potions.' She teased them lightly. 'I'm surprised you boys are visiting your own parents.'

'I'm going to visit mine, they might want me to come stay with them for the rest of the holidays...' Peter said awkwardly.

'I don't think mine would be happy to know that I'm not at Hogwarts. They'd prefer if I was there, where they know I'm safe.' Remus said quietly. It was very hard to imagine Remus keeping his whereabouts secret from his parents, and Sirius had to admit it was quite out of character for Remus.

'Yes, it certainly is safer. But I understand that you boys wanted to be at the funeral for Lily.' She shared before looking worriedly at Remus. 'Are you okay, dear?' she added to Remus softly. 'You're looking a little pale.'

'Oh I'm fine, just um...feeling a little off. I'm not good with funerals and such.' It was a lie; of course, Remus was simply still a little pale from his most recent transformation. In all honesty, Sirius had the distinct feeling that Mrs Potter knew something was clearly wrong with Remus, who she has seen looking ill far too many times to count. Mrs Potter was a very observant woman, but Sirius greatly admired her ability to keep her observations to herself.

'Hmm, I'm quite like that myself.' She replied sadly. 'How's Lily handling things?'

'As good as can be expected,' Remus sighed. 'She's been really dependent on James since it happened.'

'Yeah, it's weird to see her so...broken.' Sirius added painfully. 'She's always been so strong, you know?'

'Yes, oh the poor girl. She must be devastated, and for it to have been an attack too. It's awful.' The aging witch agreed.

'Maniacs, the whole bloody lot of them,' Added a voice from the doorway, and Sirius looked up to see Mr Potter had appeared with a copy of the Daily Prophet rolled up in his hand, as always. 'It's ridiculous that the Ministry can't control the situation better.'

'Half the Ministry are probably death eaters themselves, either that or they've been threatened or paid into silence.' Sirius remarked before adding; 'No offence intended on your part, Mr P.' After all, Mr Potter himself worked at the Ministry.

'None took, Sirius. I wouldn't be surprised if that _was_ the case for quite a lot of them.' He admitted, pushing his glasses further up his nose to get a better look at Sirius. 'You've grown again.' He smiled.

'Sure have, but I was fairly tall anyway. I reckon you'll be more surprised with how much Jamsie's grown in the last year. Not counting maturity, of course.' He smirked widely as he spoke to the wizard, feeling extremely happy to see the pair who he regarded as the closest thing he had to proper parents.

'Now Sirius,' Remus scolded lightly. 'That's not fair; James actually _has _matured a fair amount'

'Yeah, he hardly ever gets in trouble these days.' Peter piped up to defend their friend.

'He's just got better at not getting caught.' Sirius scoffed in amusement.

'I assume that James will be coming here tonight?' Mrs Potter interrupted them in a voice of forced casualness. It was quite clear that she didn't approve of the possibility of James staying over at Lily's house.

'Yeah, he's just staying with Lily for the wake. You know, being all supportive and whatnot. He's doing quite well at that.'

'That's good, it wouldn't be proper to have them sharing a room, especially not in an unsupervised house.'

'Her parents are dead; I doubt either of them will be thinking along those lines.' Sirius rolled his eyes.

'That's not the point, Sirius. It still is not proper.' She said pointedly before continuing. 'Speaking of which,' she began firmly. 'You boys are not to be sharing a room while you stay here.' She nodded at Sirius and Remus as she spoke and Sirius instantly felt himself tense at the idea.

'We share a dorm every night, Mrs P.' He stated obviously, making sure not to mention that they also shared a bed each night. 'Plus, we shared a room here before.'

'A dorm is with other people in the room.' She replied calmly. 'And Remus didn't stay over last summer, he stayed the summer before.'

'And we were already together.' He rolled his eyes.

'I wasn't made aware of that.'

'But you suspected it.' He huffed.

'Yes, but I couldn't very well raise my suspicions about it in case I was wrong.'

'I'm not happy about this.' He continued to huff unhappily.

'I didn't expect you to be, but that's the way it is. You will be in separate rooms.'

'How do you know we're still together?' he challenged, already knowing he was losing the battle anyway.

'Don't be ridiculous, Sirius. That's not going to happen.'

'What if I said it had though?' he added weakly, he could tell he'd lost but he was at least going down fighting.

'Then I won't have you two share, after all it would be incredibly awkward wouldn't it? If you had broken up,' her tone was teasing and Sirius barely stopped himself from laughing. 'Now, you may as well get used to the idea, because I am _not _debating this with you.'

'Yes, _Mum_.' He commented, rolling his eyes upwards at her. Mrs Potter only smiled in return and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

'Now, who would like some tea?' Sirius couldn't believe he wouldn't be getting to share a bed with his Remy. It was insane, how in Merlin's name did they expect him to get to sleep on his own? He needed Remus to cuddle up to, needed to hear Remus' steady breathing next to him. His mind wandered lightly back to the summer before, when he had spent weeks with Remus by his side, it had been utter torture. He was going to find a solution to this...he wasn't entirely sure how as of yet, but he was determined that he would _not _go to sleep without his Remy.

**Okay, so...I don't really have much of an excuse for taking so long to update this time. I've just found it really hard to get started this time around. But I know what I want to do with the next chapter...mostly :P so the next update will be speedier, I promise :)**

**Anyway, thanks for reviews as always. I'm currently exhausted - I've had a made week. So I will reply to the reviews tomorrow once I wake up :P since it's currently verging on One AM here haha**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'll just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

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**I would also like to say a thank you to Starfield75 for reviewing previous chapters :)**

**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviewers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	86. Chapter 86 James' Surprise

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters **

'Good morning,' the tired voice of Remus Lupin floated through the Potters' kitchen. Sirius jumped instantly up from his seat and wrapped his arms around the scarred young man, leaning in automatically to press his lips against the Remus' own. He pulled his boyfriend as close as humanly possible, reaching up to stroke the young man's pale cheek as they continued to kiss. Sirius soon felt a hand wind its way into his hair and he smiled against the other's lips, now feeling far less tense than he had a few minutes ago.

'Oh honestly boys, you'd think you hadn't seen each other in weeks.' They pulled apart to see Mr and Mrs Potter entering the kitchen. Mrs Potter was rolling her eyes at them as Mr Potter took a seat at the kitchen table, looking rather amused.

'It bloody well feels like I haven't.' Sirius complained as he took his seat once more, pulling Remus along with him so that the pale young man was sat next to him at the table.

'Oh honestly Sirius, don't be so dramatic.' Mrs Potter smiled affectionately. 'And watch your language.'

'You boys are up early.' Mr Potter commented lightly.

'That's because I barely slept.' Sirius huffed. 'And Remus probably didn't either.'

'It was only one night, Sirius.' The aging witch added in.

'But you're going to make it more than one night.' He pointed out quickly.

'Hmm, whatever will you do?' Mr Potter teased him lightly.

'Die of sleep deprivation.' Sirius sighed dramatically before smirking at Mrs Potter and adding; 'honestly, poor Remus is a guest at your house and you're depriving him of sleep. That's not very nice now, is it?'

'Very funny Sirius,' she replied dryly. 'But I'm not going to change my mind on the matter.'

'But, Mrs P!' he complained, feeling very close to whining. 'I'll end up in a terribly foul mood with all this sleep deprivation and-'

'-Sounds more like Remus deprivation to me, Sirius.' A voice interrupted him from the door. He didn't need to turn to know that James had entered the room, and soon the bespectacled young man flopped down into the seat opposite him, fully dressed and looking highly awake for so early on in the day.

'Wow James, I didn't think it was possibly for you to get out of bed unaided.' He replied in fake enthusiasm.

'Funny.' James replied sarcastically, although a small smirk crossed his features as he spoke. 'Actually I woke up when Remus left.' Sirius glanced briefly at Remus, and could tell from the pale young man's expression that he disagreed with James' statement, but wasn't going to announce it to the whole room.

'Another point!' Sirius exclaimed triumphantly. 'Having us in separate rooms is going to disrupt the others. So really you're stealing sleep from four people!'

'Sirius, mate.' James smirked. 'Admit defeat, when my mum says no it's final.'

'He's right you know.' Mr Potter smiled in amusement.

'I feel sorry for you Mr P,' Sirius sighed dramatically. 'You married the devil.'

'I hardly think stopping you boys from sharing a room, constitutes as being the devil.' Mrs Potter replied, with a loud _tut._

'Fine, perhaps you're just an apprentice then.' He joked.

'Good Morning, guys.' Pete yawned loudly as he entered the kitchen.

'That's debatable.' Sirius huffed. 'I don't class waking up without Remus as a good morning.'

'I don't understand.' James said mockingly. 'Why does it matter whether Remus sleeps in your room or mine? It's not like you share a bed or anything.' His best friend kept his face completely smirk free, having managed to master a fairly innocent look after the years of trying to avoid detention. But those hazel eyes gave away his amusement and Sirius could tell that James was greatly enjoying himself.

Mrs Potter was watching him closely, she was apparently quite suspicious now, and her eyes narrowed unhappily as she looked between Sirius and James. She clearly knew her son well enough to know that he was winding Sirius up, and Sirius got the distinct feeling that she had now come to the conclusion that that _did _normally share a bed.

'We don't share a bed.' He lied quickly, unable to keep eye contact with anyone as he spoke. 'But it's still easier to sleep knowing that he's there.'

'Hmm...I don't think I believe you entirely, Sirius.' Mrs Potter said disapprovingly.

'So, are we still going to Diagon Ally?' James asked in a casual voice. Sirius had no idea what his best friend was talking about, but one look into James' eyes showed that his friend was pleading for him to play along.

'Yes, may as well go take some money out my vault so I've got it, eh?'

'Yeah, we won't be long.' James explained quickly to everyone else. Sirius could feel Remus' curious eyes lingering on him, clearly confused as to why he hadn't been informed, and most likely wondering why he and Pete weren't invited.

'We could take the motorbike if you like.' James suggested to Sirius and he instantly felt confused.

'You're going to ride his motorbike to London?' Mr Potter asked disbelievingly.

'Well, we played about with it last summer. It's got plenty of enchantments and stuff. We can make it go faster than the average motorbike.' Sirius couldn't believe the nonsense that was coming out of James' mouth. Sure, his motorcycle was a bit faster than a normal one, but not enough to get them to London and back in a short time.

'Yeah, he's right. It won't take us long.' He lied, shrugging his shoulders for effect. He quickly shot Remus a look to show that he had no idea what was going on either, and indicating that he would explain after their return...

'So, where are we really going?' Sirius smirked as they sped along the road on his motorcycle, far from the hearing distance of the others.

'Well, I already went to Gringotts this morning.' James smirked. 'I was up before everyone else, even you mate.'

'Okay, who are you and what have you done with James Potter?' he joked.

'Stop here for a minute I want to tell you something, I just needed to be away from everyone else first.'

Sirius quickly came to stop, hopped off of the motorbike and sat down on the curb, waiting for James to join him. As he had expected, his best friend flopped down next to him on the curb and Sirius waited patiently for him to explain.

'I got up early to take money out because I wanted to get something really special, and I wanted your help...I'm going to tell my parents later on but, well, I wanted to tell you first. I mean, we're best friends, brothers in all but blood. You mean the world to me mate-'

'-I hope this isn't you proposing to me.' He teased his best friend. 'Cus you're sounding like a soppy git right now, and I don't think Remus would be too chuffed that you're trying to steal me from him.'

'No,' the bespectacled young man laughed, shoving him lightly. 'I am planning on proposing though...to Lily.'

'What! Since when?'

'Since...since I thought about it yesterday.' James mumbled. 'Well, that's a lie. I've thought about it tons of times, even before I went out with her.' James blushed uncharacteristically. 'I just...well, yesterday I realised just how strongly I feel about her. I mean, I've always felt strongly for her, and that only increased when we got together. But yesterday I...I realised that I honestly would die to protect her, Sirius. She means everything to me. I know I sound like a soppy git, but that's the honest truth.'

'Wow...I mean, I'm surprised obviously. I mean, Merlin James, we're only 18.'

'You don't think I should?' James looked genuinely pained as he spoke and Sirius felt an instant need to fix that hurt expression.

'No.' Sirius shook his head firmly. 'I'm just surprised. I'm not going to say that you shouldn't because we're young; you're not being foolish or anything. Love isn't bound by age; you're not too young to understand it. I'm just surprised, but I know that if anyone could make you genuinely happy then it would be Lily.'

'So...you're okay with it?'

'Yeah, it's great James.' He smiled affectionately at his best friend, and reached a hand forward to ruffle his hair playfully. 'Aww Jamsie, you're all grown up.' He cooed teasingly.

'Stop it you git.' The bespectacled young man laughed happily.

'Or what?'

'Or I won't tell you the other part.' James smirked happily.

'Ooh, there's more?' Sirius exclaimed mockingly.

'Yes, you mangy mutt.' His best friend laughed.

'Do tell, Sir James.' Sirius continued, adopting a more serious but dramatic tone.

'Well you see, Sir Sirius. I, Sir James, am in the midst of requesting that you assist me in my quest to secure the fair Lily's hand in marriage.'

'And how does Sir James wish Sir Sirius assist him?' he grinned happily.

'You could be my best man...' James informed him bluntly, all playful dramatics now gone as he looked straight at him.

'Really?' he grinned.

'Of course, who could be a better best man than my best friend?' the messy haired teen grinned happily.

'Count me in.' Sirius yelled with a grin as he threw an arm around his best friend. James grinned back and wrapped his arms around Sirius too. They stayed like that for several minutes, lost in their own thoughts as they shared their brotherly hug.

'You know, if you ever tell anyone about this soppy hug, I'll deny it.' James laughed.

'You hug people lots, James.' He pointed out with a smirk.

'Yeah, but I don't do soppy hugs.'

'I hate to be the one to tell you this, mate. But you just did.'

'Oh shut it, you.' The messy haired young man laughed, smacking him lightly over the head.

'So, is that why we escaped the house then? So you could tell me about your lovely marriage-to-be?'

'Yes and no. It was part of it; the other part is that I sort of need your help picking a ring for her.'

'Why in Merlin's name are we not in Diagon Ally then?'

'I wanted to go search for one in a muggle place.' James replied sheepishly. 'I mean, I just think she would appreciate it more, you know what I mean?'

'Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. It shows you've made the effort to include her muggle-ness.'

'Well, shall we?' Sirius took his friend's out stretched hand and jumped up, feeling quite happy as he seated himself upon the glistening red motorbike. He was going to be James' best man, and with that thought he grinned happily as he sped off in search of the nearest muggle town...

'We have returned my faithful minions!' He declared loudly as he entered the Potters' house.

'Good afternoon to you too, Sirius.' Mr Potter called from the sitting room. He and James made their way along to the sitting room where Mrs and Mrs Potter were currently sat upon one their large squashy chairs; Mrs Potter was reading a book and Mr Potter was apparently reading a magazine called Quidditch Quarterly.

'Ah, Mrs P, you look positively radiant.' He smiled happily, as he threw her a random compliment before he flopped down onto the large rug in front of the fire. She smiled up at him from her book before turning to look at her son.

'You're going to have an extra guest soon, James.' The aging witch informed him.

'An extra guest?' James asked looking confused.

'One who also goes by the name of Lily Evans, I believe.' Sirius didn't have to turn to see who was speaking. He'd know his boyfriend's voice anywhere, but he turned despite this and grinned happily and held a hand out to indicate for the pale young man to come closer. Remus came willingly forward and smiled as Sirius pulled him down next to him, wrapping his arms around him tightly in a hug. Peter shuffled in after him, taking a seat next to James automatically as he neared the bespectacled young man.

'I missed you,' he mumbled to his boyfriend.

'It's only been five hours, Sirius.' Remus chuckled but Sirius could tell he was secretly pleased by the admission.

'I still missed you.' He shrugged.

'You know Sirius; I think you're developing some attachment issues there.' James laughed teasingly. 'Maybe we'll have to separate the two of you for the rest of the holidays in order to-'

'-Not happening!' Sirius exclaimed protectively as his hold on Remus tightened.

'More importantly.' James rolled his eyes. 'When is Lily coming here?'

'She should arrive later tonight, she apparated over earlier to ask if she could stay here for the rest of the holidays.' Mrs Potter explained quietly, her eyes seemed to hold a great deal of pity as she spoke and Sirius wondered briefly what Lily had said to her to gain such an expression from the woman.

James looked worried at her words, but Sirius shot him a pointed look in order to put his best friend back on track for their original plan. James would have to get it done now, because Lily would be here the rest of the holidays and he wouldn't get anywhere near as good a chance again.

'Mum, Dad...Marauders.' he added the last part with a small smile and a nod to Remus and Peter who looked up with renewed interest. 'I uh...I wasn't entirely truthful about where I was going this morning, but I wanted to talk with Sirius about it first and...I thought you might try to talk me out of it...'

'James...' Mrs Potter began worriedly.

'Look, I know you probably won't be very happy. But I've never been one to wait for things, and with the war and stuff there's no sure way of knowing that any of us actually _have _time to wait for things to happen for us.'

'Just get to the point James,' Sirius added encouragingly, he didn't particularly enjoy hearing best friend talk so gravely of the war and couldn't bear to listen a moment longer to it.

'Right.' James nodded unsurely as he looked at his parents. 'I'm going to ask Lily to marry me.'

'You haven't even finished Hogwarts yet!' Mrs Potter exclaimed in disbelief. 'You can't just rush into these things, James.'

'I know I haven't finished school yet, I won't actually Marry her until we've left Hogwarts, I'm not even sure _when _I'm going to propose yet, but I know that it's going to be fairly soon and I wanted to be prepared. So...I bought a ring today, that's why we were out so long.'

'Oh Merlin...' Mrs Potter whispered as she rubbed her fingers stressfully against her head.

'I know you probably aren't very happy, but I am, and with Lily. I just...I'd be happier to know that we had your blessings.' James was looking his parents, his hazel eyes awash with concern as he waited for an answer.

'James, I have to admit I _am _surprised.' Mr Potter began hesitantly. 'But if this is what you want, what you're _sure _you want, then you have my blessings.'

'Thank you.' James smiled happily; he bounded forward happily to share a quick hug with his father, who beamed back at him proudly.

'Mum?'

'It is _sooner _than I would have liked.' She informed him firmly. '_But,_ you have my blessing anyway dear. She's a lovely young woman.'

'Thanks Mum, it means a lot, trust me.' James smiled before turning to the two remaining Marauders unsurely. 'What do you think then?'

'You're going to get _married_.' Peter asked. He looked incredibly surprised by this, as if he couldn't imagine such a thing, and James laughed in return.

'Yeah Pete, I'm gonna get married to the girl of my dreams.'

'If it makes you happy,' Pete shrugged with a small smile, but it didn't completely reach his eyes and Sirius knew that it had been an extra knock to Pete's security as a Marauder.

'Yup, he's off to join the married community.' Sirius sighed dramatically, flashing Peter a grin as he spoke. 'The soppy git, eh?' Pete's smile widened slightly at this, apparently Sirius' teasing words had cheered the chubby young man up slightly and he joined in with Sirius' laughter.

'Remus?' James asked finally.

'I think it's wonderful, Lily's going to be ecstatic.' He smiled warmly. 'I wish you all the happiness in the world, James'

'Thanks mate' James smiled back similarly before announcing quickly. 'Marauder hug!' Laughing openly at his best friend, Sirius moved forward and commenced the hug with the bespectacled young man, and they each pulled another Marauder into the group hug. Sirius couldn't help but smile as they all held onto each other, grinning happily in their first group hug in what seemed like forever...

It was rather late by the time Lily had appeared, with her usual suitcase full for Hogwarts, and extra. She looked tired and her eyes were slightly puffy, as if she had been crying not too long ago.

'Merlin! How long are you staying for, Petal?' he teased lightly. 'You do realise the holidays are only two weeks long, right?'

'Shut up, Sirius.' James laughed as he draped around Lily happily and placed a small, delicate kiss upon her lips.

'Are your parents-'

'-in bed yeah, Dad's up early for work tomorrow. Now, why are you here?' Lily laughed automatically at his words and James instantly looked sheepish. 'Not that I'm complaining, obviously, it's just that...well, I thought you were staying at your parents' house with Petunia.'

'We had a fall out.' Lily explained quietly and James instantly pulled her down to sit upon one of the large squashy chairs.

'Why? What happened?'

'She wouldn't even acknowledge me this morning, James.' She said sadly, her eyes filling up slightly as she spoke.

'What in Merlin's name is that woman's problem?' Sirius exclaimed from his place in front of the fire. 'Is she really _that _self-centred that she can't even notice that other would be people hurting as well?'

'I called her on it.' Lily said quietly, her hands were now wringing together in a strangely timid manner. Sirius wanted desperately to comment on Petunia more, but Remus' hand had slipped into his own and when he felt it squeeze on his he knew not to say anything. It was Remus' way of telling him to stay quiet, and he resignedly agreed without a word. He merely waited for her to continue, now feeling worried with the new thought that it was apparently a sensitive subject.

'We argued and...She...she said that-that it was m-my fault that they're dead. Mum and Dad. She said that if I hadn't gone to H-hogwarts then this would never have happened. She said t-that we were all freaks, that we were dangerous and that she d-doesn't want anything to do with m-me now.' Lily was choking up slightly as she spoke, but she remained strong, apparently refusing to cry in front of a room full of people

'I'm sorry Lily.' James whispered softly as he pulled her into his arms, his hand trailing threw her thick red hair as he held her. She seemed to revel in the comfort of his embrace and curled up closer, nodding dumbly against his chest.

'She completely rejected me.' She whispered painfully. Unable to sit by and do nothing, Sirius stood quickly, letting his blanket fall from him and moving forward until he was right beside Lily, holding a hand out to her.

'Well, my family hates me plenty, Petal. So, if it makes you feel any better, we can be rejects together.' He smiled weakly at her. The redhead laughed half heartedly at his words, her eyes lighting up briefly in thanks for his words and offer. 'Look Lily, I know it's not what you want to hear, but in all honesty, your sister is a bitch.'

'Sirius!' the exclamations seemed to come from everyone in the room but Lily herself who was looking at him unsurely.

'Well she is, and you're better off without her, even if it doesn't seem like it right now. You don't need people like that dragging you down.'

'I wouldn't go as far as that, Sirius.' Remus added in pointedly. 'But, he's right in a roundabout way. You didn't deserve to be treated like that by her, and it certainly wasn't your fault that those things happened to your parents. All you ever did was attend a school to develop your magic. It's the death eaters who did this, not you. It's them who have the ridiculous ideas of what should or shouldn't be allowed, and regardless of what those people may think you deserve to be at Hogwarts more than most of the people who are.'

'Thank you.' Lily whispered softly, her eyes were filled with a sense of gratitude as she looked upon them with a great deal of affection.

'Well, why don't we go get you settled then?' James smiled softly. 'There's a room set up for you, I'll walk you up. It's late now anyway, so I'm gonna head up to bed too.'

'I hope it wasn't too much hassle for your parents.' Lily began worriedly.

'Nonsense, they love you.' James grinned and made his way towards the room's exit. 'You guys coming?' he asked them curiously.

'I'll come up, I'm getting tired anyway.' Peter replied as he suppressed a large yawn.

'Guys?' James asked the two remaining Marauders.

'Be up soon, we're just gonna sit up for a bit.' Sirius smiled and James gave them a slightly suspicious look before heading up to bed with the others in tow.

'Hmm, when did you start deciding things for me then?' Remus teased lightly from where he was sat on the largest squashy chair.

'It's a good decision if that makes it any better.' Sirius replied with a smile.

'Oh really?' Sirius only grinned as he reached the chair and held his hand out patiently to the pale young man.

'What?'

'Come lie by the fire, it's warmer.'

'Sirius, firstly; it's summer, so we're perfectly warm anyway, and secondly; Mrs Potter charmed it so it wouldn't give out heat, but it would still look nice and you know that perfectly well.'

'Well come lie with me anyway.' Sirius smiled convincingly and was incredibly happy when Remus did so without further complaint.

'Why, exactly are we lying on the rug?' the pale young man chuckled.

'Because I don't want to spend another night without you.' Sirius replied simply and pulled Remus closer to him to gently kiss his collar bone.

'Sirius, Mrs Potter won't be happy.'

'But Remy,' Sirius began with a false sense of innocence. 'Falling asleep here would be a complete accident; I wouldn't do it on purpose.'

'You _really _think she'll believe that?' Remus asked his eyebrow arching disbelievingly as he spoke.

'No, not really. But I don't care; I'd rather endure evil looks than another night without you.' He smiled lightly as he left a small, soft trail of kisses along his boyfriend's scarred neck and after a few kisses Remus gave a soft sigh of defeat.

'Fine, but if we get in trouble for this then you owe me big time.' The scarred young man then proceeded to turn onto his side and Sirius grinned, throwing his large blanket over them and shifting closer to him.

'Deal,' Sirius murmured against Remus shoulder and placed a lazy kiss on it before snuggling closer against his boyfriend and draping an arm over him protectively.

'I really do love you, you know.' Remus chuckled into the dimly lit room.

'I love you too, Remy.'

'I don't know how I'm going to live without you.' His boyfriend joked lightly.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Sirius smirked into Remus' neck.

'Well, I'll be alone from now on. After all, I'm the nice one who does what he's told, so when Mrs Potter walks in here tomorrow it's _you _she's going to kill.' Sirius smiled affectionately at the pale young man's words, placing a gentle kiss on his neck once more.

'Oh well, we'll worry about that in the morning...'

**Ugh it's quarter 'til four in the morning! But I couldn't sleep until I'd finished this chapter haha. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews for the previous chapter, I will reply to them after a much needed sleep :P I am very tired right now haha!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'll just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**Cere-Sempai**

**Fuzzybuni**

**xharrypotterismylifex**

**GiggleNo9**

**Sara I Have No Profile**

**XxBlackTypewriterxX**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL**

**girlwithstupidusername**

**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviewers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	87. Chapter 87 Arrival of a Monster

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story. **

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters **

'Sirius Black, you better have a _very _good explanation for this.' He blinked his eyes open, confusion washing over him momentarily before his memory of the previous night resurfaced. However, he could honestly say that he had never been so grateful to hear the amused voice of James' dad. It could definitely have been worse.

'Um, I...' he broke off embarrassedly as he scrambled up and into a sitting position.

'Am incredibly lucky that it was me who came downstairs first and not my wife?' Mr Potter smirked in a way that was freakily similar to James' usual smirk.

'You won't tell her, will you?' Sirius mumbled awkwardly.

'No, it's more than my life's worth.' Mr Potter joked good-naturedly. 'But if you don't get up now then she'll catch you herself.' He added calmly before exiting the room once more to make his way into the kitchen. Turning over to face his pale skinned boyfriend Sirius gave a small laugh and reached out to trace his fingers along the young man's jaw line.

'You can open your eyes now, he's gone.' He said quietly and was completely unsurprised when Remus' eyes fluttered open at his words.

'Was it obvious I was awake?' the other asked unsurely.

'No, he wouldn't have realised.'

'Okay, sorry I just didn't really want to have any awkward conversations.'

'Lucky it was Mr P who came in and not Mrs P. Otherwise we would _definitely _have had an awkward conversation.' Remus' face seemed to gain a pink tinge at his words and Sirius laughed openly. 'Well come on then sleepy head, up you get.'

'Do I have to?' Remus joked lightly.

'Unless you want your boyfriend to be brutally murdered by a certain Mrs Potter, then yes, you do need to get up.'

'Okay, I'm getting up.' Remus chuckled.

'Good, I rather like being alive.' He smirked happily, and quickly planted a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek before pulling him towards the kitchen.

As he had expected, Mr Potter was already sitting at the kitchen table, with a strong mug of coffee and a copy of today's Daily Prophet clutched in his hands. The aging man glanced up at the two young men momentarily, his eyes filled with amusement as he took them in, hair ruffled and looking as if they hadn't exactly had the most comfortable of night's sleep.

'So, do you boys have anything planned for today?' Mr Potter asked calmly, his eyebrows shot up questioningly and Sirius shook his head quickly in return.

'Not that I know of anyway,' he shrugged calmly as he poured both Remus and himself a cup of tea.

'Knowing James, he'll have something planned.' Remus chuckled lightly, as he began spreading toast for them both automatically.

'I suppose so, never short of ideas that boy.' The aging wizard commented with a smile.

'I think it's absolutely terrible that James isn't awake before you Remus, you're his guest.' He smirked suddenly.

'Sirius-' his boyfriend began warily.

'-It's very rude,' He cut over with a firm nod. 'I think I'll just go and wake him up.' And with those words Sirius bounded out of the room and straight for the stairs, leaving Remus and Mr Potter to shake their heads at him.

Pushing back the door he crept into the room that was currently occupied by the sleeping forms of James and Peter. He couldn't help but smirk slightly as he neared James' bed, coming to a stop just short of the bed, so that he still had room to jump out of the way or run if he needed to, and raised his wand.

'_Aguamenti_.' he practically laughed and watched happily as water shot from his wand, soaking both his best friend and the bed that he occupied. There was a sudden shout of panic and horror from James, who had been rudely awoken by the stream of water, and Sirius couldn't contain himself any longer, bursting into a hysterical form of laughter. Peter immediately sat up in his own bed, looking momentarily confused before joining in with Sirius' laughter.

'Son of a bitch!' his best friend shouted out, his now wet hair clinging to his face awkwardly as he scrambled to reach for his glasses. He quickly pushed them onto his face and looked up to see Sirius standing there, wand dangling in his hand as he clutched his side with laughter. 'Sirius, you are so _fucking _dead!' James shouted.

But Sirius thought quickly, and managed to apparate down to the hallway outside the kitchen, before walking in calmly and sitting down, a large grin spread across his face and his shoulders shaking slightly with concealed laughter. Mr Potter and Remus hadn't moved at all from where they had been sitting and were now accompanied by Mrs Potter, who was gratefully sipping a cup of tea as she sat on Remus' other side.

'What have you done?' Remus asked quietly, looking half exasperated and half amused as he spoke.

'Nothing...' Sirius lied innocently. Remus raised an eyebrow disbelievingly at him, but passed him a plate of toast nonetheless.

'I put a heating charm on it, so the toast will still be warm.'

'Thanks.' He smiled appreciatively and began eating his toast quite happily as the redheaded form of Lily Evans walked into the kitchen unsurely, her nightgown pulled tightly around her as she sat down next to Sirius.

'Good morning,' she greeted them quietly, apparently still awkward about now staying at the Potters' house.

'Your boyfriend would disagree with you on that one, Petal.' He replied casually.

'Why?' she asked suspiciously. 'What have you done, Sirius?' but she didn't have to wait for a response, because the dripping wet form of James Potter appeared, looking far from happy and directing his gaze at Sirius who smiled in amusement. Peter shuffled past James and sat down at the table opposite Remus.

'Want a cup of tea, _Jamsie_?' Sirius enquired happily.

'A cup of tea!' James spluttered. 'You wake me up by soaking me and that's all you have to say for yourself.'

'But Jamsie,' he reasoned with a smirk. 'It's really your own fault; you should be awake and up to sit with your guests.'

'Yeah? Well this house is gonna be one guest short.' James threatened jokingly.

'I'm not a guest James.' He teased back. 'This is practically my house these days.'

'Git.'

'Ponce.'

'I'm mature Sirius; I'm not going to rise to your childishness.' James smirked.

'Sure thing, James. Just like last time.' He nodded in fake agreement.

'So, do you have any plans for today?' Mrs Potter asked James with a smile, deliberately interrupting them.

'I was thinking we could go into Diagon Ally if anyone fancies going?' the bespectacled young man suggested as he began drying himself off.

'I think I'll just hang around here.' Sirius shrugged.

'Fair enough.' James replied before looking at the others. 'Anyone else up for it?'

'I'll go,' Lily smiled. 'I wouldn't mind getting a few replacements for my potions kit.

'Sound like a plan then. Pete? Remus?'

'I'm going to go stay with my parents for a few days.' Pete said quietly. 'I reckon they wouldn't be very happy if I didn't go to see them.'

'I'll stay here with Sirius then.' Remus smiled and Sirius felt his heart leap slightly at the idea of having Remus to himself all day.

'I reckon we should camp outside tonight.' Sirius spoke up quickly. 'You know, like we did that summer after second year.'

'That sounds like great fun!' Lily smiled excitedly.

'What as in proper camping out, or _muggle_ camping out?' James shrivelled up his nose slightly. 'I mean, that really wasn't exactly a comfortable experience.'

'Where's your sense of adventure!' Sirius shouted theatrically. 'And you call yourself a Marauder!'

'I could apparate over to my old house.' Lily said quietly, she seemed to swallow uncomfortably as she said it but quickly fixed a smile on her face. 'I have a six man tent so that will have plenty of room for us.'

'Well, it certainly sounds like fun to me.' Remus agreed and Sirius grinned triumphantly. He has successfully found a way to get to stay with Remus tonight...

Once James and Lily had left for Diagon Ally, and Pete had left for home, Sirius had found himself feeling incredibly cheerful. He was getting his Remy all to himself, and the weather wasn't too bad so they were able to sit out beneath the large tree in the Potters' garden. Remus was leaning against the tree, his eyes closed as he just relaxed, while Sirius had his head resting in the scarred young man's lap.

'I think I would quite gladly stay here forever.' Sirius joked with a smile. 'You know, this point in time, I mean.'

'What stay at the age of studying and exams?' Remus laughed in return.

'Well, sure _that's_ pretty depressing but it would be good to never have to leave Hogwarts. Me and my Marauders side by side for eternity, pulling pranks and sneaking into honeydukes.' He felt Remus' fingers begin to trail through his hair softly and smiled affectionately up at his boyfriend.

'You're a regular Peter Pan, huh?' Remus smiled and Sirius immediately screwed up his face in confusion.

'What?'

'It's a muggle story, well actually it's a play as well.'

'Um...okay?'

'It's about a little boy called Peter Pan, and he lives in this place called neverland, where he plays all day with his friends, the lost boys, and fights pirates.'

'Right, so why am I like Peter Pan?' he grinned.

'Because, Sirius. Peter Pan is the boy who never wanted to grow up.'

'I suppose you're right about that then.' He laughed and placed a gentle kiss on one of the scars adorning his boyfriend's arms.

'It's going to be strange.' Remus sighed softly. 'Leaving Hogwarts, my life is going to go downhill from here.'

'Don't be silly, you've got me, James, Lily and Pete. We might get older but we're still going to play about and laugh plenty.'

'Not necessarily, there's a war going on Sirius.'

'Exactly, we'll be fighting death eaters, just like this Peter Pan person fought off all those pirates. Once the fighting is done, fun will resume.'

'It's not just that Sirius, the rest of you will actually go somewhere with your lives, get good jobs, achieve things. I'll just be the penniless lump that you'll all be burdened with.' Sirius sat up immediately and turned to look directly at the scarred young man, jaw set and with a fierce determination surging through him.

'Remus Lupin, if I didn't love you so much I would have hit you for that damn comment.' He practically growled, grabbing Remus' wrists firmly to pull him closer so that they were face to face, nose to nose. 'You are _not _a burden. I love you, and if you can't make money then it's because the Ministry are shit at their jobs, they're supposed to look out for people but the only people they look out for are themselves. They're just a bunch of prejudiced gits. You never have and never will be a burden to me Remus.'

'But-'

'But nothing!' he silenced his boyfriend firmly. 'I love you and what's mine is yours. As long as you have me, and James, and the others you will _never _be penniless and you are certainly not a burden to any of us because of it.' He could hear the aggressive assertiveness in his own voice and immediately swallowed the uncomfortable lump in his throat. He couldn't bear hearing Remus put himself down like that, it was heartbreaking.

'Sirius, I'm can't expect you all to just continue to support me through life.'

'Remus, shut up. You're fighting a losing battle. James and I both have more than enough money to support every single one of us easily. We don't care about sharing money with you, it's only money, and it doesn't matter.'

'Money doesn't matter to you because you've got it.'

'Money doesn't matter to me because there are more important things in life, like you. I love you and I _will _support you whether you like it or not. Even if something happens and I can't support you then you would still have James, we're not going to let you suffer through no fault of your own.' He continued to maintain eye contact with Remus, he really did love that young man's eyes, and he held his gaze until Remus eventually gave in and curled up in his arms.

'I can't imagine what I'd do without you, Sirius.'

'Well, you're not going to have to find out anytime soon.' He soothed gently and placed a soft kiss on his boyfriend's neck. 'I love you.'

'I love you too, Siri.' Remus smiled in return.

'Merlin knows why.' He chuckled

'Don't be silly.' Remus scolded him lightly as he reached out to push Sirius' hair back and away from his face.

'But I constantly mess things up, Remy. I have a ridiculous amount of baggage, I don't like other people having your attention for long, and I'm a bit of a git to be around-'

'-None of that matters, nor does anything else. Love isn't about finding someone who you think is perfect. Love it about caring about someone so much that their imperfections don't matter; the type of person who you can see their problems, their imperfections, and still want to be with them regardless.'

He was just away to reply to his boyfriend's words, when he was unexpectedly cut off by Remus' lips brushing softly against his own. He sunk immediately into the kiss, pulling his Remy as close as humanly possible; allowing his hands to trail lazily up and down the young man's scarred back through the thin fabric. Before he even had much time to acknowledge it happening, he found himself lying flat on his back with Remus atop him, who was kissing him like there was no tomorrow. He let out a small moan as Remus' hands trailed under his top, caressing the skin beneath.

'I love you _so _much.' Remus breathed against him, and he could have sworn his chest had just constricted at his boyfriend's words.

'Good, because I love you too!' He smiled; nuzzling his nose against the other young man's in a rather canine-like manner. Remus' eyes seemed to light up instantly in understanding and he chuckled affectionately. But the moment was, essentially, ruined by a loud _pop _sound.

'Moony and Padfoot sitting in a tree.' James teased lightly.

'I think it would be more appropriate to say, sitting _by a _tree.' his girlfriend added in a similar tone.

'Way to ruin the mood, Prongsie.' Sirius rolled his eyes as Remus scrambled off of him, looking highly embarrassed.

It was at that moment that he realised Lily had a cage in on hand, whilst James was carrying most of the items needed for building up the muggle tent.

'What's in the cage?' he asked suspiciously, feeling instantly unhappy.

'James got me a present, to keep me company at night when we get back to Hogwarts.' She smiled happily. She then proceeded to open up the cage, and Sirius was horrified to see a grey coloured _cat_ creepingout of the cage. 'I named her Smoky.'

'You got a _cat_!' he exclaimed in disbelief.

'I told you he wouldn't be happy about having a cat around the house.' James smirked in amusement.

'I'm a bloody dog, Lily! Why in _Merlin's_ name would I want a cat hanging around?'

'Oh honestly, Sirius,' She rolled her eyes. 'She's perfectly harmless, and she's so _sweet_.'

'Perfectly harmless? Are you taking the piss? It's a fucking cat; they are creepy, evil things!'

'It's not evil, Sirius.'

'It's gonna claw my fucking eyes out in my sleep.'

'Siri, I think you're _slightly _over exaggerating.' Remus smiled, having apparently now lost his previous feeling of embarrassment.

'But-but it's a cat!' he whined huffed disbelievingly.

'I'm sure you'll get on with it eventually.' His boyfriend replied calmly and moved forward to stroke the offending animal.

'Remus, no! You can't touch that-that _thing_.'

'For goodness sake, Sirius.' Lily tutted. 'It's only a cat; it's not going to kill you, or anyone else for that matter.'

'Maybe it won't kill me.' He emphasised. 'But what about Pete, eh? What if we're strolling across the grounds as you-know-whats and that beast goes for him.'

'He strolls around with a _Werewolf_.' James snorted. 'I think a cat is the least of his worries.' Sirius immediately reached forward and smacked James across the head disbelievingly, he couldn't believe James could be so stupid as to say it out loud when his parents could easily have overheard.

'I don't think that's going to happen, Sirius.' The green-eyed witch assured him.

'Well, when you find a half chewed Wormtail on your bed, I hope you remember me warning you this would happen, and I hope it eats at your conscience.' The redhead shook her head in exasperation and walked closer to him, with the cat now held tightly in her arms.

'Get that _monster _away from me!' he huffed loudly.

'You may as well just get used to it, Sirius. She's only a few months old so she's going to be around for a _long _time yet.' She then proceeded to pick up the cage with her free hand and carried both into the house quite happily.

'Evil, evil cat.' He mumbled disapprovingly.

'It's only a cat.' His best friend laughed openly at him.

'Well, if I feel the urge to chase it when I _change_ I can't be blamed for my actions.' He informed the bespectacled young man firmly.

'Aww, poor Sirius.' James teased lightly, pretending to pat Sirius' head as if he was currently in dog form.

'And James!'

'What?' the other asked, looking highly amused by the whole situation.

'That thing is _not _coming in the tent with us.' Sirius declared warningly before heading back to his spot beneath the tree once more...

**I would have updated sooner but I've had a total writers block. Not because I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I simply couldn't seem to write it down...also, I chose a bad week to cut down my caffeine intake haha. I'm finding it hard to concentrate without my regular amount of caffeine (which I seriously needed to cut down on because I started getting shakes and headaches and stuff – not good!) So yeah...bear with me? I'm hoping so anyway cus I totally adore my readers :) **

**Exam results came today...bit of a kick in the face really *sighs* but it's my own fault for not bothering to study. I only failed one subject though so it's not too bad I suppose. But I'm quite sad I didn't get a better grade for English :( I suppose that's what happens when I spend my free time writing this and a few other things instead of studying for my final exams.**

**Also, can someone please tell me whether or not I replied to the reviews for chapter 85 as I'm quite confused. I will reply to reviews as soon as I can, but I'm really busy right now trying to sort out funding for college. Thank you all for your patience. As for the reviews for chapter 86, they will get done tomorrow morning once I have returned from my friend's house. Sorry for keeping everyone waiting so long!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'll just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Chili Loves You**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL**

**girlwithstupidusername**

**DarkestAngel13**

**life-is-lonely**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**GiggleNo9**

**XxBlackTypewriterxX**

**monkeybunspotter**

**Kammy**

**Sara I Have No Profile**

**Drarry-Remirius-Potter(loving your new username btw)**

**Fuzzybuni**

**ClatuVrata**

**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviewers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	88. Chapter 88 Back to Normal

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters **

'Boys, up you get!' Sirius groaned instantly in recognition at the firm voice of Mrs Potter. He sighed loudly as he sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily, before climbing out of bed and making his way downstairs, clad simply in boxers and a t-shirt.

'G'morning, Mrs P.' He yawned, as he dropped down into his usual seat at the Potters' kitchen table.

'Good morning, dear. Would you like some cereal?'

'Nah, I'll just wait 'til Remus gets down and have toast.' He replied. 'G'morning, Mr P, Petal.' He smiled to Mr Potter and Lily in turn.

'Have no fear, Remus is here!' James declared loudly as he made his way into the kitchen, gesturing theatrically to the pale young man who walked in behind him.

'Good morning.' Remus greeted them all with a small smile, apparently struggling not to give into his amusement over James' actions. The two young men took their seats at the table and Sirius smirked in his best friend's direction.

'So Jamsie, how does it feel to know that as soon as you get back to Hogwarts you're gonna have to play babysitter to all the little kiddies?'

'Ugh, don't remind me.' James groaned loudly. 'I swear those brats get cheekier as the year goes on!'

'They're not _all _bad.' Lily smiled.

'So where's _creeper_ this morning then?' Sirius asked as he glanced around the room.

'Her name is Smoky.' Lily replied with narrowed eyes.

'I think creeper suits _it _better.' He shrugged. 'Notice how it's not here right now? I bet it's off to kill James' owl as we speak.'

'It's not going to kill the owl.' Lily tutted disapprovingly. 'She's probably fast asleep in her bed.'

'Yeah, and dreaming about ways to kill the owl.'

'Sirius...' Remus warned him lightly, handing him a plate of toast and Sirius smiled at the pale young man's gesture before pouring them both a cup of tea.

'You never know, hopefully one of the evil little Slytherin brats will steal it, just to annoy you.'

'Sirius, it's a cat, there's no need for you to dislike it quite _that _much.' Mr Potter rolled his eyes, but his lips were tugging upwards slightly in amusement as he reprimanded him.

'So, are you coming to the station with us then?' James interrupted, smiling at his father.

'Yes, it's my last chance to see you lot off, so I'm starting work a little later today.'

'Mr P, you are a star!' Sirius grinned, and Mr Potter shook his head in amusement as he continued to sip on his coffee. James grinned also, between his rushed mouthfuls of cereal, and Sirius couldn't help but laugh slightly; James looked incredibly childlike as he wolfed down his food.

'Well, I'm off to get showered first.' James informed then, dropping his spoon loudly into his now empty bowl.

'Actually, I think Lily was just away to go, weren't you Lily?' Remus inquired innocently and Sirius quickly nodded his head in agreement.

'Yes, I was actually.' Lily smiled sweetly, playing along with the other Marauders.

'Oh, well...ladies first, I suppose.' James sighed and leaned back in his chair once more.

Lily stood with a smile and made her way out of the room, heading towards the bathroom as she did. She couldn't have gotten far before the sound of laughter reached her eyes.

'What?' James asked, and his eyes filled with confusion as he looked at his laughing friends.

'James, you are so_ fucking_ whipped.' Sirius roared.

'Language, Sirius.' Mrs Potter said firmly, her tone turning into a clear warning as her eyes turned onto him.

'Sorry Mrs P,' he apologised quickly, before turning to his bespectacled friend once more. 'But you so are, mate. It's hilarious.'

'I'm not whipped!' the young man complained.

'You certainly wouldn't have given in to any of us like that.' He pointed out with a grin.

'I was being a gentleman.'

'You were being a pushover.'

'Well...Remus started it!' James huffed.

'And Lily played along because she probably thinks it's funny too.'

'No, she just wanted to play along with you guys. I bet she didn't even realise what you two were doing.'

'She's an honorary Marauder, James. And not because she's with you, it's because she can be just as sneaky and mischievous as the rest of us, when she wants to be.'

'Well, I'm glad you eventually warmed up to her. Cus you were a _major _git when she first started hanging around with us.'

'I don't like change.' Sirius explained simply. 'I like having a routine, and a set group of friends, I don't like people mixing things up.'

'I think she's the only person who managed to worm her way into you affections.' James grinned and Remus nodded in agreement.

'He's right, you tend to either like people or hate them instantly. You don't take well to most people, and the only person you've _ever _changed your mind about is Lily.'

'_Most _people are annoying.' Sirius shrugged, as if that explained everything perfectly.

'You thought Lily was annoying for years.' James shot back.

'Yeah, but that was back when she hung around with Snivellus.'

'You still didn't like her when she stopped though.'

'Of course not, she stopped hanging around with a death eater wannabe and then decided she wanted to _my _friends.'

'She was already friends with Remus.' His best friend pointed out to him. But Sirius merely shrugged in return, he didn't really want to spend his morning talking about his reasons for originally disliking Lily, it didn't matter now anyway, she was one of them and he wouldn't have changed that, even if he could...

Having never went home during the Easter time break, Sirius had never seen Platform 9 and ¾ with such a small amount of people. Sure, it wasn't _that _small an amount of people, but compared to the amount that usually filled it on September the first, the platform was quite empty. On the bright side, however, this meant that Peter had found it a _lot _easier to find them than he would have any other time, considering they were easier to spot in the smaller crowd.

'Oh James,' Mrs Potter sighed sadly, as she pulled her only son tightly into her arms for a hug. 'This is the last time I'll ever see you board this train. Where did the years go?'

'Mum, you're being embarrassing.' James laughed lightly.

'My little boy, all grown up.' She smiled somewhat sadly, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. 'Write to me soon, dear.'

'I'll write as soon as I get time to.' James promised her with a smile.

'I want to be fully informed on all your plans.' She replied pointedly, and Sirius knew she was taking about James' planned proposal to the redhead who was currently standing with them. Mrs Potter quite clearly wanted to be kept up-to-date with any and all developments.

'Yes, Mum.' James rolled his eyes as she finally let him go, and he turned to his father to speak. But what they spoke of Sirius wasn't really sure, because Mrs Potter had pulled him firmly into a hug. He squirmed momentarily before relaxing and hugged her back slightly.

'And you,' she began, her eyebrows now raised somewhat warningly. 'Do try to go _one _term without getting in trouble.'

'I'll try, but in my defence I'm easy to provoke, and easily encouraged.'

'Perhaps, but at least try, dear. It _is _your last term, after all.'

'I'll do my best, Mrs P.' He smiled warmly and she nodded firmly in response.

'And the same goes for you, as I said to James, do remember to write, dear. It makes my days slightly less dull to hear from you boys.'

'Shall do, Mrs P.' He saluted jokingly and she smiled affectionately in return, before pecking each of their group quickly on the cheek.

'Don't be a stranger, Sirius.' Mr Potter smiled at him. 'You're welcome to stay with us after you finish your time at Hogwarts.'

'That means a lot, Mr P.' He grinned happily. 'But, I think I'm gonna get my own place once I leave Hogwarts. Can't spend my whole life messing up _your _house now, can I?'

'I suppose not,' the aging wizard replied warmly. 'Well, you're always welcome for Sunday breakfast.'

'Thanks Mr P; I don't know what I would have done without you guys. You two are the closest thing I have to parents.' Sirius has to admit he quite surprised when Mr Potter pulled him into a firm hug, he flinched instinctively, simply because Mr Potter wasn't someone he was used to having physical contact with, but hugged back weakly, knowing that it had taken a lot for the aging wizard to initiate such a thing.

'Well, as far as _we're _concerned,' Mr Potter replied, nodding towards his wife and himself. 'You _are _our son, maybe not in blood, but most certainly in heart.'

'Thank you.' He mumbled weakly, feeling his chest practically explode with the feel of belonging, _really _truly belonging.

'Now, go on you lot. You better board the train, it will be leaving soon, and I'd prefer not to have anyone getting left behind by accident.' James' father teased them all.

'Hey, Lily,' Sirius began, as they reached the train. 'Be careful not to drop Smoky on the train tracks; I'd be so _incredibly_ _devastated _if anything happened to her.'

'You are taking this too far, Sirius!' Lily huffed loudly, her red hair whipping behind her in a mad frenzy as she climbed onto the train, her eyes narrowed far further than he could ever recall seeing them. Apparently his constant comments and complaints about her cat were starting to get to the green-eyed witch.

'Of course, you simply _had _to wind her up.' Remus rolled his eyes at him as they boarded the train, but Sirius quickly gave his boyfriend a pout and the pale young man smiled resignedly in return.

They all made their way along to their usual compartment, and Sirius felt incredibly happy when James and Lily actually sat down in their shared compartment.

'I am shocked. I mean, you guys are actually _lowering _yourselves to sit with us?' he asked in mock surprise, and James quickly knocked him over the head jokingly.

'Yeah, we don't need to ride with the Prefects, since they're all _at _Hogwarts.' The messy haired young man laughed.

'We should still patrol the train from time to time, though.' The redheaded witch told him, and James nodded in agreement.

'Yeah _patrol_.' Sirius teased them with a grin. 'You two just wanna get in some _fun _before we get back to Hogwarts.' Lily looked instantly scandalised by his teasing but James let out an almost Sirius-like bark of laughter.

'You know, I think you two spend too much time together.' Remus teased the bespectacled young man. 'You're even taking on each other's mannerisms and such.'

'You better be careful James, if you start acting too much like me, Remus might want some _fun _from you too.' Sirius laughed openly, earning him a slightly disgusted look from his boyfriend and an _incredibly _horrified look from his best friend. He has just been away to continue, when he heard the familiar rattle of Lily fiddling with Smoky's cage.

'Do you _have _to let that _thing _out?' he huffed as Lily opened the cage, allowing Smoky to roam free in their carriage.

'I don't see what your problem is Sirius, I think she quite likes you.' Sirius looked at the grey coloured cat, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at the creature as it continued to watch him.

'Well I don't like_ it_, it's staring at me, and it's forming a devious plan, I guarantee it!'

'_She _is a _cat_.' Lily replied stubbornly as she sat the feline down on her lap, and Smoky purred loudly as she began stroking the cat lovingly. 'She's sweet and she hasn't done _anything _to you.'

'Yet, it hasn't done anything to me _yet_.' He declared defensively.

'It's not going to, it's a cat.' James snorted before the green-eyed witch shot him a pointed look. 'I mean _she's _not going to.' The messy haired youth corrected himself instantly. 'Eh?' he smiled at the grey eyed _monster_.

'It's not going to talk to you, James.' Sirius pointed out. 'It's just a dumb animal.'

'I could say the same about you.' Lily quipped and Sirius had to admit, it had been quite a quick comeback for the redhead.

'Fine, I give up, you can continue to adore the bloody cat, but when you two have children it's going to rip the children's eyes out.'

'Sirius!' Lily screeched, looking horrified. 'I can't believe you'd say such a thing.'

'I can't believe you'd love such a thing.' He replied pointedly, nodding at the cat on her lap.

'So, who's up for a game of exploding snap?' Peter interjected quickly, looking incredibly awkward.

'I'm in!' James declared with a grin, suggesting that he thought he was going to win already.

'Fine, fine, count me in.' Sirius sighed in defeat and Peter immediately began placing down all the cards...

'Lily!' a voice called loudly as they sat in their usual positions on, and in front of, the chairs by the fire. The group fell into silence immediately in recognition at the witch's voice.

'Hello, Mary.' The redhead greeted half-heartedly, as their fellow Gryffindor reached them and Sirius immediately tensed at her arrival.

'I just wanted to say I'm _really _sorry to hear about your parents, it must have been horrible for you.'

'My parents dying?' Lily shot back harshly. 'Yes, funnily enough, it was.' Anyone with the slightest hint of decency, sense or tact would have read the redhead's tone and said goodbye, but of course Mary Macdonald wasn't one to take a hint.

'You're really lucky though.' The witch continued.

'Lucky?' Lily spat disbelievingly.

'I didn't mean it like _that._' Mary corrected herself. 'I just meant that you're really lucky that you have such nice friends. You know, with them all going home with you and all. It's really sweet of them.'

'Yes, well, _nice_ people tend to attract nice friends.' Remus added in, his eyes narrowed slightly on the young witch. Mary eyed him curiously, apparently unsure how to respond to such a comment.

'I can imagine how horrible it must have been for you,' she continued with a nod towards Lily. 'Losing your parents so unexpectedly and-'

'-You have no _idea _how it must feel for her.' James cut in harshly. 'Just leave her alone, okay?' he instantly wrapped an arm around his girlfriend, who placed her head on his should for comfort.

'I didn't mean to offend you or anything, I just wanted to-'

'Why do you _never _know when to just leave?' Remus snapped. 'You just hang around like some form of desperate fool; well none of us want you here, so just take the hint and go.' The witch seemed far more surprised by Remus' outburst than she had been by James', and her eyes held a great deal of dislike for the pale young man as she turned and stormed out of the Common Room without another word.

'Ding ding, round one.' James joked weakly, clearly trying to lessen the tension. But it didn't lessen in the slightest, and the entire room seemed to have gone silent at Remus' outburst. Sirius had to admit, he wasn't surprised that everyone was so shocked. It wasn't exactly in Remus' nature to snap at people, and it must have looked incredibly strange to everyone who had witnessed his outburst.

'Come on guys; let's head up to the dorms.' James sighed, pulling his sad looking girlfriend up with him as he did. The rest of the group nodded, and followed their unofficial leader without hesitation. They began heading instantly up the stairs and into the much missed dormitory.

'Sexy wolfie; one. Stupid tart; zero.' Sirius joked, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend lovingly from behind, as soon as the door had been closed, and Remus blushed slightly in response, apparently having now realised how out of character his response had been.

'Was I a bit too harsh with her?' the pale young man asked, looking slightly embarrassed by his recent outburst.

'Nah, she deserved it. She doesn't even _like _Lily; she was just snooping around, trying to find out info or a way into our group.'

'And probably into _your _bed.' James added in with an eye roll and a nod towards Sirius.

'She can have my bed all she bloody well wants; I sleep in Remy's anyway.' He joked and Remus chuckled lightly, sinking into his embrace quietly as he did.

'You know, after being able to be so open at James' house, I reckon it is gonna be torture having to refrain from kissing you whenever I feel like it.' Sirius mumbled into his boyfriend's neck.

'Well, perhaps you'll just have to kiss me as much as you can when we're up here then.' Remus teased.

'Wow Remy, you seem quite feisty today.' He joked, kissing his boyfriend's neck lightly as he chuckled against the pale skin. But he couldn't help but wonder at his boyfriend's sudden change, he was acting differently to how he usually would and that bugged Sirius slightly. He supposed he shouldn't be too surprised though, after all, it wasn't too long now until the full moon and was probably just acting weird because of Mary's unexpected appearance.

'So, how about we have an early night then?' Sirius smiled softly.

'Hmm, that sounds nice.' Remus agreed quietly, his eyes were now closed as he leaned into Sirius' arms.

Unwrapping his arms from around his boyfriend, Sirius moved forward, and was just away to sit down on the bed and remove his shoes, when he realised that there was a fluffy grey form currently curled on Remus' bed.

'Lily, get that _fucking _cat off of my bed!' Sirius shouted.

'Sirius! Don't shout, you'll frighten her.' She reprimanded him unhappily, as she scooped the cat up into her arms and looking at Sirius disbelievingly.

'_Technically _it was lying on Remus' bed.' James smirked and Sirius shot his friend a look that clearly said _don't even start with me, James_.

'Well, I suppose I'll go have an early night as well.' Lily smiled lightly, before reaching forward and kissing James softly, leaning into him as he returned the kiss with equal affection. 'Good night then,' she blushed, smiling at them all, before exiting the dormitory, the smile never quite leaving her face.

'Aww, look at the expression on my Jamsie's face!' he pretended to coo, as he watched his best friend gain a rather foolish looking smile. 'Aww, my little Jamsie-pie is all loved up.' He continued to tease.

'Come on now Siri, leave him be.' Remus rolled his eyes and tugged him towards their shared bed. Sirius immediately stripped down, feeling incredibly light-hearted as he climbed into the familiar bed. It felt like he hadn't slept in the bed in months, rather than the mere two weeks that they had all been away.

'I bet this bed's covered in bloody cat hairs now.' He huffed loudly and both James and Peter rolled their eyes wildly at his words.

'Goodnight,' James called to him, before disappearing behind the hangings of his own four poster bed. Pete was quick to follow, climbing into his own bed and Sirius smiled as he watched Remus finish stripping down, apparently feeling far more relaxed to do so now that the others were out of sight. The pale young man then proceeded to climb in next to him, shifting impossibly close until Sirius shifted also, choosing to rest his head in the crook of his boyfriend's neck.

'Hmm...much better...' Sirius sighed, inhaling Remus' scent as he closed his eyes. It was far nicer than how he had spent most of his time at the Potters' house; lying alone in his own room, without any warm body next to him to cuddle into. Without _his _Remy next to him, it had been _horrible_.

'Definitely.' Remus agreed softly, and Sirius felt his boyfriend's lip press lightly into his hair, kissing him gently. Life was most definitely back to normal, or at least, as normal as life could be for a pureblood reject with a Werewolf for a boyfriend...

**I didn't want to stretch their holiday out too much, so they are now back to Hogwarts once more :) So...chapter 88! This has definitely got **_**much much much **_**longer than I thought it would. I just want to say, I am **_**really **_**grateful to everyone who has stuck with this story so far, it really does mean a lot. My stats have dropped quite a bit and I've lost some subscriptions and stuff, so yeah...this is clearly a bit **_**too **_**long for some people's liking. So um...please stick with me to the end? Thanks. ILY guys :)**

**I'll reply to everyone's reviews once I wake up. Thank you everyone!**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'll just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

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**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

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**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	89. Chapter 89 A Definite Decision

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters **

'Mhmm...Remy.' he mumbled tiredly as he rolled over and attempted to cuddle up with his boyfriend. But as he shifted he found himself incredibly confused, eyes flying open rapidly. Where was Remus? Okay, so now he was _definitely_ worried. He couldn't believe Remus has gotten up and left before him, and he hadn't even said good morning or gave him a cuddle! Remus was definitely acting strangely, and he felt an odd sense of loss, at the idea of not having Remus to snuggle with first thing in the morning.

'Remus?' he called out pointlessly, he knew that it was quite probably a pointless effort, but it had been a small ray of hope that perhaps Remus was just helping Pete with homework or something.

'Is that you, Sirius?' rolling over once more, the boy in question groaned immediately. He wanted _Remus_, not Peter _bloody_ Pettigrew.

'Yeah it's me.' He sighed bitterly, shifting awkwardly to sit up, and rubbing his eyes sleepily.

'Where are the others?'

'I don't know.'

'But didn't Remus tell you-'

'-I don't bloody well know Pete!' he snapped harshly, and immediately stood up to begin dressing himself. He knew that he shouldn't be snappy with the chubby Marauder, but he was stressed and, when stressed, Sirius' automatic response was to snap at people. He continued dressing himself, pulling on a shirt and slowly fastening the buttons, he couldn't seem to find motivation to fasten up his efforts, and he was left with, what felt like, a dull ache in his chest as he thought of his usually open boyfriend suddenly seeming so guarded, what the hell was wrong with him?

'I take it James has left then?' Sirius sighed. He couldn't believe it; both Remus and James were up, ready and gone before Sirius himself had even roused from his sleep. It seemed completely ridiculous.

'Yes...but Lily probably told him to get up early so they could do rounds, I think she feels guilty that neither of them were actually around during the holidays to perform their duties.

'Her parents died, you'd think she'd be able to cut herself a bit of slack.' Sirius shook his head sadly, Lily's priorities always did seem rather strange to him, but he supposed she just wanted something to do to keep herself busy.

'You got any idea what's up with Remus? The chubby Marauder shook his head firmly as Sirius' question, in all honesty, he hadn't expected Peter to know anything, and it was more a foolish hope than anything else. He couldn't understand what could be bugging the pale young man so much, that he wouldn't even talk to his own boyfriend about it.

'Nope, he's being a little weird though.' Pete shrugged helplessly. 'You ready to head down to breakfast?'

'Yeah...I suppose so.' He replied resignedly...

By the time Sirius reached Transfiguration, which was technically the third class of the day, he was in a particularly foul mood. Remus hadn't came to breakfast. Sirius had been left sitting with Pete until James and Lily had _finally _appeared, and even then it was only with James' encouragement that Sirius remembered to eat. He had made lame excuses and wandered about aimlessly after breakfast, fighting the urge to run up to the dormitories and check the Marauders Map. And continued to wander during most of his double free period instead of working, which he knew he should be doing in the run up to their N.E.W.T'S.

'Sirius, are you okay?' his best friend asked somewhat nervously, as he sat dropped down into the seat beside him.

'I'm just peachy.' He replied sarcastically.

'Have you and Remus...you know...had a fall out or something?'

'I don't bloody well know, James.' He groaned in frustration. 'I mean, no, I don't think so anyway. We were fine last night, I mean, he was acting a bit funny, but we were still okay...'

'Right, sorry mate, it's just that... he wasn't with us at breakfast, and you looked kind of, well, agitated. So I sort of just assumed that the two of you had had words, or something along those lines...you've not had a run in with Regulus, have you? Or Snape?'

'No I've not had a run in with any Slytherin gits. And, well no, we've not. Remus and I haven't had an argument. I was just agitated because he up and left this morning without a word and then he didn't appear at breakfast either...'

'I take it that's why you were so distracted that you had to be reminded to _eat_.' James' eyebrows seemed to have risen considerably at those words, he was looking pointedly at him now and Sirius felt instantly annoyed. The last thing he was bothered about right now was whether or not he got breakfast, couldn't James see that there was clearly something wrong with Remus and that it was obviously _far_ more important than a breakfast?

'Look, I'm worried about him, okay. He was acting weird last night, snapping at Mary and whatnot, and now he's acting even stranger than yesterday. I haven't seen him _once _today. That's not normal!'

'He's walking with Lily right now, if that makes you feel any better. She asked to talk to him after Herbology, wanted to know what was wrong with-' but James broke off, looking towards the door. Turning his head quickly, Sirius watched as Remus came walking through the door, and James was quite right, he had walked with Lily on his way there. Unable to stop himself, Sirius stood instantly and moved towards Remus, stopping the young man before he reached the seats. Lily gave them both a slightly worried glance, but continued her way to her usual seat so as not to make a scene. He tugged on the other's elbow lightly, in order to make him move further back in the classroom, and out of hearing distance from their classmates.

'Where the hell were you this morning?' his words came out far harsher than he had intended and Remus looked slightly taken aback, as he looked up at him guiltily.

'I just needed some space to think.' His boyfriend said quietly, his eyes not quite meeting Sirius' own as he spoke. He seemed so small and confused that Sirius wanted to wrap his arms around him automatically, barely refraining from doing so as he watched a mixture of emotions cross over his boyfriend's scarred face.

'Why are you doing this?'

'Doing what?'

'_This_.' He practically growled. 'You got up and didn't even bother to wake me and say goodbye and you have to get up fairly early to be awake before me anyway, so you were clearly deliberately avoiding me,' He pointed out. 'Then you don't show up for breakfast, which _you _would be less than pleased about, if it was the other way around. And now, well now, you're not even looking me in the eye Remus.'

'Sirius, please, can we _not _have this conversation in Transfiguration.

'Fine, you and me, let's leave.' He shrugged, and tugged Remus towards the door.

'Sirius! We can't just _leave_, McGonagall will have our heads!'

'She's not here yet to stop us from leaving.'

'That's not the point!' Remus sighed in exasperation.

'Look, you were acting funny last night, and you're acting even stranger now. This is the first time I've even seen you today! I want to know what the hell is wrong with you.'

'We came back to Hogwarts yesterday, and I...I realised that I don't like things the way they are right now...with us.' He practically felt his body freeze at those words, fear suddenly coursing through him as he took in what Remus had just said.

'What the _hell _is that supposed to mean?' he growled defensively.

'Sirius, please, can we just talk about this _after _class?' the pale you man pleaded nervously.

'No, we can't, not after what you just bloody well said.' He snapped.

'I don't mean it like _that_, Sirius.' The scarred young man assured him firmly, grabbing hold of his wrists as he spoke, and now looking firmly into his eyes. At that precise moment, Sirius would have given _anything _not to be in a classroom that was slowly filling with other students. He wanted nothing more than to kiss Remus right there and then, he couldn't bear just standing there, doing nothing.'

'Remus, please, I'm confused as hell right now. Stop speaking in words that are only half making sense and just say what you have to say.'

'I can't...not here.' Remus replied, letting go off his wrists, as if suddenly remembering that they were at the back of a classroom and not their own dorm. Remus' eyes were awash with frustration, and Sirius could tell that it was taking a _lot_ of restraint for Remus notto just do what Sirius had suggested and leave the room. If Remus could wait, he could wait, he decided, and with a sigh to indicate his own frustration, he nodded towards the seated area.

'We can talk after class.' He agreed, and ran a hand through his own hair, solely to stop himself from reaching out to touch Remus' face, which was holding such a stressed expression that Sirius couldn't help but worry further. That would _certainly_ not be a good idea in McGonagall's classroom.

He headed back to his seat, flopping into the wooden chair once more and dropping his head into his arms in frustration.

'Um...I take it you guys didn't sort things out.' James mumbled unhelpfully, prodding Sirius lightly in the arm with his quill, one which Sirius was fairly sure was actually a Sugar Quill.

'No we didn't.' He said shortly, and shot his best friend an apologetic look for his harsh tone. James simply gave him a small smile to indicate that he understood, and that all was forgiven. And then, as if to seal the deal, James reached into his bag and pulled out a Sugar Quill, handing it to Sirius was an encouraging smile. He reached out and took the Sugar Quill from his messy haired friend and smiled thankfully, it couldn't stop the worry that was creeping up in his mind, but it did make him feel _slightly _better.

'Settle down. This is a classroom, not a social gathering.' The strict tone of Professor McGonagall was a barely audible voice in the back of his mind at that moment, and he was glad that the class went instantly quiet. He definitely didn't think listening to people twittering on about insignificant matters would have helped his mood...

When Transfiguration _finally _came to an end, Sirius practically jumped up from his seat, gathering his things quickly and shoving them into his bag before making his way towards the door. He waited impatiently on the other side of the door as the rest of the class trailed out, catching James' eye momentarily as the bespectacled young passed him, along with Lily, to make his way to his next class. Finally Remus exited the room, looking slightly awkward and gave him a small smile.

'I swear, if you say; _can_ _we wait 'til lunch_, I'll scream.' Sirius joked weakly.

'This is a bit of a rushed conversation for between classes.' Remus commented unsurely.

'Then let's skip it.' He shrugged. 'One missed lesson of Muggle Studies isn't going to result in a fail, you know.'

'We'll get in a lot of trouble is she reports our absence to McGonagall.'

'Then I will come up with a wonderfully woven tale of why we were unable to attend.'

'Hmm and what if she doesn't _believe _your fantastically woven tale?'

'I said wonderfully, actually, but fantastic sounds quite nice too.'

'Sirius.'

'Sorry,' he smiled sheepishly. 'Look, if she gets all upset and doesn't believe us then I will quite willingly take all the blame.' He grinned. 'Wouldn't want your beautiful reputation being tarnished now, would we?'

'You should have thought about that many years ago then, Sirius.' Remus joked playfully.

'Fine, let's head up to Gryffindor Tower.' He provided smiled and Remus nodded quickly in agreement.

They made their way up Gryffindor Tower rather quickly, hoping not to be seen by any teachers, whose suspicions they may have roused. They entered through the portrait hole, ignoring the loud _tut_ of disapproval – for skipping class - from the fat lady. And, luckily, the Common Room was empty, which meant they didn't have to put up with any suspicious glances from any of the other students. Proceeding to walk up the stairs, they soon found themselves walking into their dormitory, and Sirius was quick to throw down his bag at the side of their bed and sit down, cross-legged, on the comfortable mattress.

'So, let's start from yesterday.' Sirius smiled softly, tugging Remus' hand firmly, so that the young man would join him on the bed. 'You got all over-reactive against Mary.'

'I didn't overreact.' The pale young man replied, choosing to sit directly opposite him on the bed.

'You know what I mean,' he shrugged in return. 'You got a bit...snappy, which _you _usually disapprove of, and tell me off for doing to people.'

'Well, Mary's different. She doesn't know when to quit.'

'She does seem to be unable to read the mood of a group.' He joked lightly.

'I just...ugh, she didn't care about Lily at _all_. She takes Ancient Runes with us, and she's never _once _bothered to speak to Lily unless your or James are around. And, since Lily's been with James, she gave up and is now _completely _focused on you. She only came over last night, because it was an excuse to talk to our group and try to worm her way in.'

'But Remy, that's _never _going to happen.' He assured his boyfriend firmly, reaching forward and grasping Remus' scarred fingers in his own.

'_I_ know that. But _she _doesn't. There are always going to be people like her around, people who are going to flirt desperately with you, or try to gain your attention, and I can't even call her on it because nobody knows about us.'

'I thought that was what you wanted.' Sirius asked, his eyebrows rising momentarily in question, before realising that he probably had a very Remus-like expression on his face, and lowered them once more.

'I-I thought so too. But she was getting on my last nerve, I suppose. And then your words last night just made me notice it even more.'

'Notice what?'

'How much I hate keeping _this _a secret.' Remus replied, indicating in-between the two of them as he spoke, and meaning their relationship. 'You were right; spending those two weeks at James' parents' house was so relieving. We didn't have to worry about being caught out, or think about how something _might _look. We were able to just...relax. We didn't have to limit our affection solely to a dormitory! And it's-it's hard to go from being able to curl up with you on a chair in the Potters' sitting room, to be able to openly sit in your arms, to being back _here_ and not even being able t-to hold your hand when you look sad. To know that no matter how terrible my day is, I'll have to wait until we're hidden away up here, in our room, before I can get a proper cuddle, that lasts more than two seconds, or before I can kiss you.'

Unable to resist any longer, Sirius leaned forward, letting go of Remus' hands and reaching up to cup his pale face, and found that his boyfriend had the same idea. Remus met him half way, hands tangling into his hair as they crushed their lips together, pouring every emotion into their sudden kiss. Remus was right, hiding _this _was almost unbearable. Their relationship was quite probably the longest running relationship in Hogwarts at that moment in time, why should they have to hide their love when everyone else could parade around with their two week long relationships? Pulling back, he looked intently into Remus' eyes, searching for any indications of doubt or seconds thoughts.

'So this is it then?' he asked quietly, his thumb tracing over his boyfriend's jaw gently as he spoke. '_You_ don't want to hide _this _anymore, and_ I_ don't want to keep it a secret anymore...'

'Things are going to change.' Remus sighed resignedly.

'_This _wont'.' He promised, as he took a pale hand in his own, threading their fingers together as he spoke, and indicating them slowly.

'I love you, Sirius Black.' The scarred young man sighed softly, leaning forward until he practically sat in Sirius' lap.

'I love you too, Remus Lupin.' He replied in a teasing voice, and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend quite happily, nuzzling into his neck lovingly.

'So, now what do we do? I mean, how exactly are we going to go about doing this?'

'I could always just kiss you in front of Mary, and let her spread the news for us.' He joked and Remus swatted him playfully for his idea.

'No, Sirius,' he smiled in amusement. 'And no declarations of love.' He added in a teasing voice.

'I never said anything of the sort, Remus.' He exclaimed dramatically.

'You're best friends with James Potter.' Remus pointed with a smile. 'Making a statement probably comes naturally to you by now.'

'Ha ha, you're very funny, Remus. I'll have you know that's my best friend you're talking about'

'And you're very offended on his behalf?' Remus questioned, one eyebrow quirking up in question.

'Nah, not really.' He laughed, and tickled Remus lightly.

'Stop stop!' Remus laughed back, grabbing his arms firmly so that he couldn't continue his attack.

'Okay, no declarations of love. Does that include shouting it from the astronomy tower?' he joked. Remus shook his head disbelievingly at his words, and leant forward, kissing him lightly.

'I'm just saying, I don't want to make a big deal out of it.'

'The less amount of attention the better?' he smiled understandingly, suddenly feeling a bit nervous at the prospect of _really _revealing themselves to the whole school.

'Yes, it's not about making a point. It's just about being able to finally be open, and not have to hide how we feel about each other.'

'Okay, no big declarations, or announcements. Although you might have to reinforce that idea with James, he'll probably feel the need to anyway.'

'He's practically your brother Sirius, so it's _your _responsibility to keep him under control.'

'Well, why don't you tell Lily to keep him under control then?' He suggested with a smirk. 'He's totally whipped anyway.'

'Harsh but true.' Remus chuckled in return.

'Ugh, I can't wait for lunch. I'm bloody starving!'

'Why?'

'Because, I didn't exactly eat much this morning, I was a little bit distracted by my boyfriend's disappearance.'

'Silly mutt.' Remus rolled his eyes disbelievingly.

'So, I reckon we should just start acting like any other couple and let everyone just figure it out for themselves.'

'Sounds like a plan to me.' Remus smiled as he began running his fingers distractedly through Sirius' hair.

'How long do we have left 'til lunch then?'

'We have,' Remus began, glancing momentarily down at his watch. 'Twenty-five minutes until Lunch is served.'

'Hmm...what could we possibly do in the meantime?' he asked innocently, as he pressed Remus back down onto their bed, his happiness increasing instantly at the amused look on his boyfriend's face...

**Okay, I'm posting this before replying to reviews because my internet provider has been messing up in my local area. I'm going to post this right now, so that it's there for everyone to read, and hopefully my internet will stay on now *fingers crossed* Thanks for your patience, the next chapter is nearly done now too, so that'll be up in a day or so :) Sorry it's a bit shorter than usual, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter :)**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'll just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL**

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**and also a thank you to Robellia and free2Bsexyme for reviewing previous chapters! I will reply to everyone ASAP!**

**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviewers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	90. Chapter 90 Coming Out

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it! **

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters **

'Okay, so I was thinking the lake, right. Well not _in _the lake obviously, but it's a nice place, you know? Good scenery and whatnot. I figured we could charm candles and stuff to float about, like in the Great Hall.'

'Wow, you're really being a girl about this, aren't you?' Sirius snickered, and was quickly rewarded with a smack over the head by his boyfriend for teasing their bespectacled friend. All four Marauders were currently sat on James' bed; James at the head of the bed, with Sirius in front of him, who was resting in Remus' arms, who was sat next to Peter.

'It's called being romantic, Sirius.' Remus prodded him playfully. 'He's only going to do this one time, you know.'

'Not if the amount of times he asked her out is anything to go by.' Sirius smirked.

'Remus?' James asked politely.

'With pleasure.' Remus replied in a similar tone, his arms suddenly sliding beneath Sirius' own to hold them back.

'What the hell?' he complained as Remus held him so that James could hit him, rather hardly, square in the chest.

'That's for being a git.' The messy haired young man huffed loudly.

'I can't believe you cooperated with him, Remy!' he gasped in shock. But Remus rolled his eyes in return;

'Stop being a drama queen, and start listening to your best friend. This is going to be a very important moment in James' life and he wants it to be perfect, now start being a supportive friend and _earn _your title as Best Man.'

'I don't have to _earn _it,' Sirius replied huffily. 'It's my right as his best friend, correction, as his _brother _in all but blood, to be by his side when he marries his fair maiden.'

'Well be nice, or I'll give the title to someone else.' James joked. At his words Peter seemed to suddenly sit up that little bit straighter. His eyes suddenly lighting up a bit and looking far more interested than before. James seemed to have noticed, his eyes twitching slightly in the chubby Marauder's direction, but he was nice enough not to point out to Peter that it had never _really _been a serious threat.

'Right, candles and whatnot.' Sirius rolled his eyes.

'Yes! As I was saying, I was thinking that I could sit outside at the lake with her, you know, ask the house elves to make up a picnic for us or something. Get all the floating candles, lie beneath the stars.'

'You could point out Sirius for her, and then she'll realise she never truly loved you, and that she was actually pining for me all along, and then, of course, we'll run off into the sunset together, hand in hand.' Sirius declared dramatically. 'You know, I reckon we would produce some pretty damn attractive kids.' He added with a wink and James smacked him hard with his pillow.

'Hey! Watch it James, if you wreck my face Lily might not love me anymore.' He smirked and received another smack with the pillow. 'Actually, it'd still be an improvement to yours.'

'You're a git, Sirius.'

'Aww, and you're a ponce, James. You're quite clearly proving that with all this lovey dovey bullshit that you're producing here.'

'Sirius, stop winding him up.' Remus chuckled. 'Plus, I don't think I'd be very happy with you running off with Lily, I might have to kill her, and think of the grief that would inflict upon poor James.'

'Ah, that is very true, Remus.' He nodded firmly. 'You know, you could always run off with us, we could have some three way love going on there.' He smirked and winked once more.

'As tempting as that sounds, Sirius, I'm afraid I must decline.'

'You must?'

'Yes, I'm afraid so. You see, I don't share well, and I'd hate to imagine the damage I could do with accidental magic.' Remus informed him with a slightly dramatic sigh.

'Hmm, we could always bring Pete along then. I'm sure Lily would prefer him to James as well. I reckon she was secretly after Pete all along, but didn't have the heart to tell our Jamsie here.'

'I agree,' Pete added in quickly. 'You two have to distract James, and I'll propose to Lily before he even gets the chance.'

'You lot are a bunch of evil gits.' James complained loudly. 'I'm trying to decide on the perfect way to propose to Lily, and you lot are just making jokes about how you're all going to steal her from me.'

'Who said it was joke James?' Sirius asked in a mock serious tone.

'Sirius, shut up before I act out my revenge. I'd hate to imagine what Lily would do to me if I killed you.'

'Yeah, she'd be _very _angry; who would she run off with if you did?'

'Sirius!' James practically whined.

'Okay, okay. I'm listening mate; Lake, picnic, candles, stargazing etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. We get it, lots of cliché bullshit.' He teased. 'Okay, then what?'

'Um...then I'll propose.' James said, looking slightly defeated.

'Simply plans obtain simple reactions. Seems like the perfect way to encourage Lily to marry you, if you ask me.' Sirius smiled.

'What if she says no?' James asked, his face expression was suddenly deadly serious. His hazel eyes seemed to have widened in apparent horror. 'Oh Merlin! What if she says no? What if she doesn't want to marry me?'

'She will.' Remus assured him firmly. 'She loves you James.'

'You really think so?'

'Well she's said it often enough.'

'That doesn't mean she _really _loves me though. People say they love each other all the time, and don't _really _mean it.'

'Lily's not that type of person.' Sirius defended the redhead quickly. 'She would never mess anyone around like that, James, and she _certainly _wouldn't mess _you _around like that.'

'Yeah...' James agreed quietly, his tone suggesting that he wasn't quite as certain as he wanted them to believe.

'Don't worry about it James, I've got something far more important for you to worry about.'

'Oh really, and what's that.'

'Protecting me, your best friend, and of course, my Remy from the evil population of Hogwarts!'

'What?' James snorted in amusement. 'The _evil _population of Hogwarts?'

'Yes, highly evil beings they all are!' Sirius said firmly, clutching Remus in mock horror.

'Oh yes, especially those Hufflepuffs.' James nodded in mock agreement.

'Seriously though, James. We eh...we're really gonna need your support for the rest of the term, Lily and Pete too.' He added with a nod towards Peter, and his hand gesturing in the general direction of the girl's dormitory.

'What he means is...' Remus halted slightly with a look towards Sirius, who nodded to show that that _was_ what he had been speaking about. 'We've decided we don't want to pretend anymore. We're going to stop hiding our relationship.'

'You're going to let _everyone _know?' Peter asked somewhat unsurely.

'Yeah,' Sirius agreed quickly. 'We're done pretending we're not together. We've been together since the start of fifth year, and we don't want to hide it anymore.'

'But, we've barely got any time left at Hogwarts now; a matter of weeks isn't going to make any difference. Why not just keep it a secret? You managed it this long.'

'Because, Pete, we shouldn't have to! If we leave this school without ever letting people know I was with Remus then I _know _I'll regret it. I know that I'd regret never having the balls to show people that we deserve to have the same chance at a normal relationship as anyone else. I'm not going to hide it any longer, because I should never have hidden it in the first place. I love Remus, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise any longer.'

'Well said, Sirius.' James grinned, clapping a firm hand on his shoulder as he spoke. 'Your ability to make a speech off the top of your head will, no doubt, be a very good thing for you as my best man. After all, I wouldn't be surprised if you left it until the night before to bother making your speech.'

'More like the morning of the wedding.' Sirius smirked back. 'I'll be out getting highly drunk with you the night before.'

'I don't think the night before is such a good idea.' James looked somewhat nervous. 'If I turn up a mess, she'll kill me.'

'Who says you'll turn up?' Sirius joked.

'That's not funny, Sirius!' James looked horrified.

'Anyway, we're getting a _tad _off subject here.' Remus reminded them.

'Oh right, yeah. Well I'll support you guys a hundred percent, you know that.' James smiled warmly. 'Maybe you'll offend a few people enough to give me an excuse to duel a few of them.'

'Nice to see you're so supportive, James.' Remus laughed openly.

'Poor James, he hasn't been in a decent fight since before he started acting all mature for our lovely Lily.' Sirius teased, reaching forward and ruffling his best friend's hair teasingly as he did. James instantly dove towards him, and Sirius shoved him back and straight off of the bed before jumping down to continue play fighting with his best friend, the dog part of him thoroughly happy to be getting a play fight with someone other than a Werewolf, who quite easily won each time.

They continued rolling around, fighting playfully, and didn't even hear the _knock _on their dormitory door. Nor did they acknowledge Remus stepping over them and opening the door, allowing the honorary Marauder to enter the dormitory, her red hair finally catching James' attention.

'Lily!' he smiled happily from where he was pinned beneath Sirius.

'James, what on earth are you doing?' Lily laughed, her eyes filling with amusement at the sight before her.

'You know, Petal, there was a time when you would have thought we were extremely immature for doing this.' Sirius pointed out with a smirk.

'Yes, well, that was before I realised that these things barely scratch the surface of your immaturity levels, Sirius.' She teased him, and he stuck his tongue out playfully at her, losing his concentration _just _long enough for James to flip him onto his back.

'Ha, you lose!' James declared loudly, shuffling off of Sirius and standing up to pull Lily into a hug.

'You seem quite affectionate right now.' She laughed at him.

'He's just hugging you, because he knows that I won't get him back while he's holding onto you.' Sirius supplied with a smirk and threw himself up and onto his bed where Remus was now sitting.

'So, is there any particular reason why you are all sitting in your dormitory on a sunny Saturday morning?' Lily smiled curiously, as she sat down next to Peter on James' bed. 'You do realise that we'll miss breakfast if we don't leave soon, right?'

'We were eh...telling James and Pete something.' Sirius supplied. 'Remus and I are, well, we're gonna stop hiding our relationship. We actually decided last week, but we figured it was best to wait until after the full moon, didn't want any unneeded attention on Remus during it.'

'So you're just going to come out and say that you're together?' she asked looking surprised. 'That's a pretty gutsy move, Sirius.'

'Yeah, but we're ready now. After being at James' house for the holidays I guess we just realised how hard it is to go back to pretending we're not together.'

'I guess I can understand that.' Lily nodded. 'I can't imagine how hard that must be. I don't think I could handle sitting in front of the fire with James and not being able to cuddle him, or hold his hand.'

'Well, today's the day Lily.' Remus added in somewhat nervously. 'We're leaving here as a couple, hand in hand.'

'And whether people like it or not is _their _problem, not ours.' Sirius nodded, wrapping an arm around Remus and playfully kissing his neck.

'Okay, okay.' Remus chuckled, squirming slightly in his arms, managing to turn to face Sirius, and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

'Well, are we all ready to head down to breakfast then?' James smiled softly. He felt Remus tense slightly in his arms, and he was fairly sure that he also had tensed at James' words. Standing up nervously, he pulled Remus up along with him, giving him a weak smile.

'Guys it'll be fine.' James assured them. 'You've got us lot, and that's all that matters, right.' It wasn't a question James meant it as a statement and nothing else. 'If anyone has a problem with either of you they'll have _me _to deal with.'

'Anyone starts anything with me and Remus and they'd have _me _to deal with anyway.' Sirius added in protectively, ignoring Lily's correction "Remus and I", and wrapping both arms around Remus as the group headed towards the exit, and holding Remus back momentarily at the open door.

'You ready?' he whispered quietly, as he searched Remus' eyes for in doubt. Remus gave a small nod in return.

'Whatever anybody says or does, we have each other.' The pale young man replied quietly, his fingers momentarily losing themselves in Sirius' hair, and his eyes glancing up at towards Sirius somewhat nervously.

'Okay, let's go.' He whispered and Remus gave yet another small nod. They left the dormitory, closing the door behind them, and began walking down the stairs, hand in hand, before halting a few steps from the bottom, just out of people's eyesight.

'Siri?' the pale young man asked quietly, looking confused. Sirius took a deep breath and glanced at his boyfriend; he couldn't help but feel his stomach practically tie in knots with apprehension. 'Siri, we'll be fine.' He felt instantly ashamed, he had been so determined that he would be the one to reassure Remus, to make him feel better and, in fact, it was turning out to be the other way around.

'I'm fine.' He assured the scarred young man, taking a quick glance into his boyfriend's comforting eyes, and with one final breath, they walked down the few stairs that remained and straight into the Common Room.

Sirius has never been so grateful to have his friends waiting for them, at the bottom of the stairs, as he had at that precise moment. For a few brief moments nobody seemed to have noticed, although the Common Room had very few people occupying it at that precise moment, and it wasn't until they were half way across the room that anybody seemed to have noticed. In fact there were only two other groups in the room; a group of second years who were whispering hurriedly to each other, their eyes wide and focused on the two young men, and two fourth year girls who were currently giggling, as if they thought it was some form of joke.

'Why the hell are people laughing?' he muttered angrily.

'They probably think it's a dare or something.' James replied, rolling his eyes at the group. 'Well, they'll click on soon enough.'

'Nobody to bother about in the Common Room, that's a good start.' Lily smiled encouragingly.

'It wasn't our Common Room that I was worried about.' Remus replied quietly. 'It's the Great Hall, and the corridors I'm more nervous about.'

They continued their journey down to the Great Hall, and not only were the few students they passed apparently amused or fascinated by it, apparently people were to oblivious to realise it wasn't a joke, even the portraits seemed to be whispering away, figures dashing into their neighbours' portraits to gossip about _the one the Black's disowned and that strange Lupin boy_.

It wasn't until they were stood just outside the doors for the Great Hall that he felt truly self-conscious. The idea of every pair of eyes being on his was horrible, he'd faced it before and he didn't want to feel it again. This time it was Remus who seemed to have became suddenly nervous, Sirius could feel Remus' hand sweating slightly with nerves and he gripped his boyfriend's scarred hand all the tighter, interlacing their fingers and giving him a small smile, which he hoped looked more assured than he currently felt.

'Get moving you bloody drama queens.' James joked weakly and Sirius gave him a small smile for trying to lighten the mood.

'Just...give us a minute, yeah?'

'You sure?' James asked, looking surprised.

'Yeah, we'll be inside in a minute, okay?'

'Sure thing, mate.' James nodded somewhat worriedly and indicated for the other two to go in with him.

'Remy,' he whispered quietly, and looked directly into his boyfriend's eyes. 'I love you, okay. Nothing else matters, just like I said before Remus, back in fifth year, yeah? All I want you to think about is you and me...and nothing else.' Remus' arms wrapped instantly around his waist, and the pale young man hugged him close, giving Sirius a chance to breathe in Remus' comforting scent and allowing him the chance to relax ever so slightly.

'Why does everything in my life have to be so complicated?' Remus played along, echoing the words from that night, that night that seemed like forever ago now.

'I wonder why mine's is too sometimes,' he grinned, feeling incredibly amused at the repeat of their words from that first night where they had gotten together. The strangest part, in Sirius' opinion, was that their lives had actually became far more complicated than they had been that night.

'Okay, I'm ready.' Remus breathed softly.

'You sure?'

'Yes, if we don't go now, we'll never do it.'

'You're right.' He mumbled in agreement and gave Remus' hand a final squeeze. 'Merlin, I'm glad I've got you by my side for this Remy.'

'If I wasn't by your side, you wouldn't have had to do it in the first place.' Remus teased lightly and he felt slightly better at his boyfriend's small smile.

They had near enough reached the Gryffindor table before anyone even realised that the two young men had appeared, let alone were actually holding hands. People were so busy with their own conversations that hardly anybody seemed to have noticed until a disbelieving voice from the Ravenclaw table had loudly called to people further along the table. 'Oh Merlin, look, over there, look at Black and Lupin!' This, of course, had led to a large amount of people at their table turning to look at the two Gryffindors, and resulted in whispering, gasps and even a few shouts of disbelief between friends.

This, naturally, drew attention from the rest of the tables in the Great Hall, and within seconds every pair of eyes in the room were on them.

'Sirius, Remus, mates. Over here!' James said loudly, to cut over the sudden stream of conversation at the Gryffindor Table. Sirius quickly made his way over to his best friend, Remus' hand had tightened almost painfully on his as interest grew in the pair, his face seeming to redden incredibly in comparison with his normally pale face. He automatically began running his thumb soothingly over Remus' hands, and tried to ignore the room full of eyes that were directed at them.

'You'd think people had never seen anyone hold hands before.' Lily said loudly, her eyes narrowing warningly on people around about them as she did.

'Yeah, well I guess some people are just nosy arseholes like that.' James replied with a shrug, and began helping himself to cereal as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Although, Sirius supposed, that after seeing his friend's like that so often it wasn't _really _all that out of the ordinary for James. After all, James shared a dormitory with them, and was used to them sharing a bed each night.

'I don't believe it.' A voice declared loudly, and the loud babble in the room seemed to stop, and was replaced with a few hushed whispers.

'Remus, pass me the milk please.' Lily continued, pretending not to have heard anything, but her eyes had narrowed further in anger, and gave her away instantly. Remus seemed surprised by the sudden request and used his free hand to shakily pass a milk jug over to the redhead, his other hand still clutched tightly in Sirius' own. Sirius automatically shifted closer to the scarred young man, trying to gain as much comfort as humanly possible from his boyfriend's presence.

'It's a prank, I guarantee it.' The voice continued, and Sirius felt his head snap up, and was just about to reply to the witch, but Lily beat him to it.

'What _exactly _is your problem, Mary?' the redhead rounded on her suddenly. 'Is there some reason as to why you can't let people eat their breakfast in peace? Or is it just the fact that, as usual, your timing is _unbelievingly _off?'

'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' Mary narrowed her eyes dangerously, her pupils darting from Remus to Lily, eying them both with incredibly dislike.

'Firstly; I mean that if you were really _that _desperate for Sirius' attention then you really need to get a time turner or something, because you are _years _off. He isn't in the slightest bit interested in you, clearly.' The last word was said pointedly as she motioned towards where Sirius and Remus were sitting. 'Secondly; why the hell are you babbling on about pranks? What exactly is so unbelievable to you, Mary?'

'As clever as you lot seem to think you are, I'm not _that _stupid, Lily.' She replied venomously. '_Sirius Black_, I mean, be serious for two minutes, nobody is going to believe that _he's _a...a _you know what_. If your stupid boyfriend wanted to pull a prank on people then he should have picked someone a bit more believable to put it into action.'

'It's not a prank you bloody idiot!' Sirius snapped in frustration. 'Why the hell would I pull a prank like that? You were the one who wanted to know who I'd been seeing in secret all this time; well here you go Mary, meet Remus,' he exclaimed, holding up their intertwined hands to show her. 'The guy you've spent seven years in classes with. Glad to finally know my secret?'

'We are not trying to trick _anyone_.' Remus added in honestly, his voice, as usual, incredibly quiet, giving off a calm impression, despite the fact that Sirius knew he was far from it. 'We're just _trying_ to be open about things, and _I_ for one am fed up with _you_ hanging around none stop trying to worm your way in with _my _boyfriend.' If the room was quiet before, it was nothing compared to how quiet the room was now and Sirius felt the tension in the room rise even further in response to Remus' words.

Mary gaped openly at him, disbelief still clouding over her face, and her eyes narrowed suddenly, fixing Remus with a glare.

'So you _say _it's not a prank, how do we know it's not a dare?' she challenged him.

'Wow, guys. Three years in September, right?' James asked them with a smirk. 'That's one hell of a long dare, don't you think?' As much as he probably shouldn't have at that moment, Sirius couldn't contain himself and let out a bark of laughter at his best friend's comment. The whole room seemed to burst into conversation once more, most likely people stating their shock that Sirius and Remus had managed to keep their relationship a secret for so long.

Mary, however, seemed to have taken their news rather badly, and stood up angrily, throwing one last menacing look at the pair, before stalking out of the Great Hall at an incredible speed. Sirius felt instantly relieved to know that Mary was now gone, he was fairly certain that this would not be his last encounter with the witch, but for now, at least, she was gone. However, there was still the fact that the whole Great Hall seemed to be unable to take their eyes off of them. He could hear the mutterings, and there were a few harsher comments that he didn't respond to, solely to avoid gaining them more attention, despite the fact that the people who were making nastier comments clearly had no intentions of trying to remain unheard by the pair.

'This is going to be a long day.' Remus sighed quietly, and Sirius squeezed his hand in return, not really having anything to say in reply. Lily was watching them somewhat sympathetically, Peter was looking down at his food awkwardly, and Sirius couldn't blame the guy really, Pete certainly wasn't good at any kind of confrontation. Finally though, he noticed James' eyes on him, James was looking at them both with frustration evident in his hazel eyes, and Sirius could tell that the bespectacled young man _really _wanted to do something to try and help them.

'Okay, okay, listen up!' James shouted suddenly, and Sirius could practically feel Remus squirm beside him in embarrassment as James stood up on his seat to get the room's attention. And it worked, because the room fell instantly silent, all eyes on him.

'Mr Potter, get down this instant!' Professor McGonagall called disbelievingly, her stern face set determinedly in James' direction. But Professor Dumbledore gave a wave of his hand, silently giving James permission to continue, whilst Professor McGonagall was left looking incredibly dumbfounded as to why Dumbledore had allowed such a thing.

'Okay, so basically, it's a Saturday, it's sunny, and I don't want my day, or any of my friends' day ruined because people feel the need to be nosy gits. So yeah, basically, these two over here,' James indicated, pointing towards Sirius and Remus with a smile. 'They're two of my best mates, and yes, they're together. Before anyone makes any stupid comments, yes, when I say together I mean it as in they are currently in a relationship, of the romantic kind, _with each other. _Although I'm sure that's fairly obvious now.'

'So yeah, now that that's been covered, I'd just like to tell you all to keep your opinions to yourself; no, it is _not _acceptable to judge them for no reason, because _really, _I could judge a _lot _of people in this room far easier and have a hell of a lot more reason for it. These guys have been together three years in September, right. So, Professors excluded obviously,' he added with a smile towards the staff table. 'Can anyone else in this room claim to have that long a relationship? Or perhaps one that is even remotely close to it? If not, then who the hell are you to judge them? Take a look at your own bloody relationships, if you can call them that, before you go judging anyone else's.' And with those final words James sat back down and, quite pointedly, went straight back to eating his cereal.

The hall was rather quiet once more, with only a few voices audible, and Sirius smiled at his best friend, removing his hand from Remus' to reach forward and clap the bespectacled young man on the shoulder.

'Thanks, James.' He nodded gratefully.

'It's not a big deal,' James shrugged in return. 'People need to grow up and judge their own decisions before they go judging anyone else's.' Sirius couldn't help but smile at his best friend's words, and only smiled further when he felt a plate press into his hand. He looked downwards, and smiled as he looked at the plate of toast currently being placed in his hands, by Remus.

Maybe everything could still be normal after all...

**Hello my faithful readers and reviewers! Chapter 90 :O We are now fairly near the end I'm afraid, only four more after this one, which trust me, is a **_**very **_**strange concept to me since I've been writing this since story since February! I have became rather attached to this story, so I'm **_**very **_**sad to see it almost finished. I really hope people are happy with this, I know some people thought it was a good idea for them to **_**come out **_**and some people thought it was...let's say, not quite as good an idea. Originally I wasn't going to have them come out, but as the story went on I felt it was right that they did. So yeah, this is the end result of that idea :P Anyway, for all those who are still reading and enjoying, I am very grateful! **

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'll just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Marauders716**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL**

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**Sara I Have No Profile**

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**YourMonster**

**smileyouhaveareview**

**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviewers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	91. Chapter 91 Revision and Loyalty

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it! **

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters **

'Hmm, have I ever mentioned how nice you smell?' He wondered out loud, his face currently pressed into the nape of Remus' neck as he littered it with soft kisses.

'Sirius,' the other young man sighed exasperatedly. 'As nice as it is to know that you like how I smell, we have _classes _to attend.'

'And?'

'And we need to get going; Professor Burse doesn't like either of us very much, as it is. He certainly won't be pleased if we're late for his class, and not for the first time, I might add.

'What if we don't turn up at all?' he joked lightly.

'No, that definitely wouldn't put him in a good mood.' Remus chuckled amusedly.

'Hmm, it'd put _me _in a good mood though.' He grinned wickedly.

'Move, Sirius. Otherwise I'll set Lily on you.' The pale young man smiled.

'If you _really _didn't want me on top of you, you would have pushed me off already.' Sirius grinned knowingly. 'You're certainly stronger than me, my little wolfie friend.' Before Sirius even had time to register what was happening, he found himself flat on his back, with Remus now shooting him a warning look.

'_Don't_ call me a wolfie,' Remus said, rolling his eyes half in amusement, before leaning down and kissing him firmly. Sirius grinned triumphantly against his boyfriend's lips, having finally gotten what he wanted all along, and kissed him back with enthusiasm.

'As much I love being mentally scarred by my best friends before classes, I'd rather we got going to Defence Against the Dark Arts, than watch you two make out on your bed.' James smirked unexpectedly from the now open doorway, having apparently returned to see what was taking the pair so long.

'We're perfectly ready to get going.' Remus replied calmly as he stood up, fixing his tie embarrassedly, and Sirius found himself instantly missing the warmth of his boyfriend's body pressed against his own. '_Sirius _is the one causing the delay.'

'Do not be fooled by his lies, Prongs!' Sirius declared dramatically. 'I was simply choosing my quills for our morning classes, like the good, studious person I am, when Remus appeared, out of nowhere, and started _ravaging _me.'

'Yes, I'm sure he did.' James laughed, his eyes now rolling in a rather Remus-like movement of exasperation.

'You saw it with your own eyes, Prongs.' He smirked. 'Remy had me pressed down on the mattress and everything; he wanted to have his naughty way with me before classes.'

'In all honesty, I'm just glad the two of you were clothed when I walked in.' James teased them, his eyes filled incredibly with amusement. 'Now can we _please _get going? Have you even had breakfast yet?'

'Well, that depends what you mean, James.' Sirius smirked, lowering his voice suggestively. 'I've certainly had something to eat this morning.'

'Sirius!' James half whined in horror. 'I don't need to hear these things!'

'No we haven't had breakfast.' Remus cut over the two young men, his cheeks now incredibly flushed, as he made his way to the doorway. 'And we don't have time to grab breakfast before class now. So I suppose we'll be having chocolate on the way there.' Remus' tone was far from amusement, but Sirius knew that the scarred young man wasn't half as unhappy as he was making out.

'He says that as if he isn't secretly looking forward to having chocolate for breakfast.' Sirius informed his best friend in a stage whisper.

'I would have liked to have had a _real _breakfast before classes.' his boyfriend replied with a smile.

'Think of it this way, Remy.' He grinned happily. 'This way we get to have some chocolate flavoured kisses. You're not going to complain about that now, are you?' he finished knowingly.

'I suppose not.' The pale young man admitted, his lips tugging upwards slightly, a hint of a smile playing on his still flustered face.

'I reckon that was his plan all along,' Sirius whispered jokingly to his best friend. 'He could have had any snack type of snack on his way to class, but he _chose _chocolate, makes me think it was planned in advance.' James simply laughed at his suggestion, as they made their way down to the Common Room...

'What on earth took you so long?' Lily smiled as they took their seats in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Sirius had to admit, he was always in a far better mood, if Snape _wasn't _in class before them. It gave him the chance to see Lily, instead of trying to peer at her with Snape blocking his view.

'Remus and his naughty ways,' Sirius whispered suggestively, and was quickly smacked over the head by Remus for his suggestion.

'Someone,' Remus corrected pointedly, with a nod towards Sirius. 'Didn't want to come to class, and very nearly made us late.'

'Well if it's the choice between one of Burse's boring lectures, or Remus in my bed.' He winked, shrugging slightly, and causing Lily to laugh openly, but the humour was immediately ruined when Snape took his seat, shooting Sirius a look of great dislike.

'And, today's lesson for defence against the dark arts; identifying the characteristics of a human sized bat.' Sirius snorted loudly, causing Professor Burse to glance up at him warningly.

'Sirius,' Remus said calmly, his voice holding a slight warning tone to it, suggesting that no comment should be made to or about Snape. It was almost like an unwritten rule between them, that Sirius was to avoid any form of confrontation with Snape, after the _incident _from sixth year.

'I heard the main characteristic is having a dark mark on the lower arm.' He couldn't stop himself, and the words were out before he even had time to fully register what he was saying, with death glares now being shot directly at him from Lily for making such a stupid comment in a crowded classroom.

'Out, now!' Professor Burse stated angrily, his finger pointed directly at Sirius. 'I'll be having words with your Head of House about this...disgusting accusations!'

'Sir, please, let him stay, I guarantee you he won't say another word,' Lily said loudly, fixing Sirius with a look that quite clearly said that he would do as he was told. 'It's too close to the start of our N.E.W.T's to throw him out and-'

'-I did not ask you for your opinion, Miss Evans.'

'I thoroughly apologise, _sir_.' Sirius added in, his voice edging on sarcasm but leaving just enough room for doubt.

'This is your _last _warning, Black.' Professor Burse said sternly. 'Any more of your nonsense, and I will not let you step foot in this class again. Be grateful that I'm feeling tolerant due to your final exams. But, I will still be informing your Head of House.' Sirius gave a small nod to show his agreement, and Professor Burse made his way over to the board, apparently they would be taking notes directly from him. It seemed to be all they really did these days, but Sirius wasn't going to complain, it saved him from having to have any form of interaction with the aging professor.

'I can't believe you actually did that.' Remus sighed, shaking his head disbelievingly as he began taking notes.

'He _is_ a bloody death eater!' he hissed.

'You didn't have to announce it to the class; people can draw conclusions for themselves. You won't achieve anything by making public accusations; you'll just get yourself in trouble, and not just with the teachers. Don't make yourself an enemy to these people before you even leave school.'

'Remus, I hate to ruin whatever bubble you're currently living in, but trust me, our group's been on their enemy list for a fair while now.'

'You're going to end up getting yourself killed one of these days, starting arguments with people. You're lucky he didn't pull his wand out on you.'

'I could take him in a duel.'

'You only have to be careless _once _and your life will be over.' Remus snapped.

'He's hardly going to cast an unforgivable on me in Hogwarts.' He snorted.

'This isn't about Snape, or about Hogwarts, I'm saying not to get into bad habits now, because it won't be long before we won't _be _at Hogwarts anymore, and you'll be on the receiving end of more than some stupid bat bogey hex.'

'In case you don't remember, I _have _been on the receiving end of worse.' He snapped back, thinking of the night he had ran away from the Blacks. Remus remained silent, his eyes awash with concern, but he didn't back down. Sirius, however, lowered his gaze, avoiding eye contact with the pale young man.

'Sirius, please don't turn this into an argument. I'm just worried about you; I don't want you to go getting yourself hurt. Of course I remember that you've faced worse, but that is _exactly _my point, I refuse to let you get hurt like that again. I couldn't bear it, Siri.' He then felt Remus' hand slip into his own, their fingers entwining automatically, and he looked up into Remus' eyes, feeling a wave of guilt wash over him as he did.

'Sorry.' He mumbled, and Remus gave a small smile in response and then nodded towards the board. So, with a resigned sigh, Sirius began taking notes...

'Sirius, stop!' Remus laughed openly.

'Stop what? I'm not doing anything.' He replied in a tone that suggested complete and utter innocence. He was currently sat with his back pressed up against the large tree, which was by the edge of the lake. His arms were wrapped tightly around the pale young man in front of him, his lips pressing lightly against the scars the adorned Remus' neck and shoulders.

'Sirius, I'm trying to concentrate.' His boyfriend smiled.

'What could _possibly_ have made you think that cuddling up with Sirius would result in you being allowed to concentrate on your studying?' Lily smiled in amusement.

'She's right,' Peter added with a nod. 'There's no way that he was ever going to let you study. If you want any _actual _studying done, then you're better off going to the library, without him.'

'You offend me, Pete.' Sirius huffed jokingly.

'He's got a point though; Remus won't be able to concentrate unless you disappear.' His red headed friend added in with a smile.

'We've all been studying all day.' He groaned in annoyance. 'I'm just ensuring that my Remy has _some _fun, and isn't completely driven insane by the world of academics.'

'Well, maybe you should keep your _fun_ somewhere else, you're antics are making everyone stare at us.' Pete said awkwardly.

'They can stare all they bloody well want.' Sirius growled angrily, his voice rising loudly to make a point as he glared at all the students within seeing distance. In all honesty, the fact that people _still _hadn't gotten over them being together was grating on his nerves.

'I'm not saying there's anything wrong with you wanting to be affectionate or whatever,' the chubby young man assured them. 'I'm just saying, you're making people uncomfortable, you don't _have _to make a point of being affectionate in front of them.'

'I'm not trying to make a bloody point!' he snapped. 'If it was James and Lily sitting like this, then you wouldn't be saying they were _making a point_. You wouldn't give it a second thought if I was doing this with some stupid girl, for fuck sake Pete, if my own bloody mates can't give me a fucking break, then who the hell can?'

'Calm down, Sirius. You're just making a scene.' Lily said firmly.

'I'm making a scene?' Sirius spat disbelievingly. 'Are you fucking joking me? Maybe if people stopped being such ignorant bastards then there wouldn't be a fucking scene to make.'

'Sirius, getting worked up over this isn't going to achieve anything.' Remus added in softly, turning in his arms to face him as he spoke. 'Just calm down, okay? You don't need to go getting yourself stressed out just days before our final exams.' Sirius had nothing to say in return, and simply let out a breath, sighing in annoyance, and nodding his head shortly.

'Good,' Remus smiled, and leant forward to give him a short kiss, allowing his lips to linger momentarily, and making Sirius smiled softly in return, before turning to face the others once more, and leaning back against Sirius comfortably. 'Now, why don't we go over Herbology, since Sirius wants to take a break from his studying?'

'Ugh, anything but Herbology!' he groaned loudly. 'I don't even take Herbology, speaking about it is inflicting pain and suffering on me, do you want me to suffer?' he managed to keep his voice serious, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep the amusement out of his expression.

'If you don't want to listen to us talk about Herbology, then why don't you go walkies.' Lily joked lightly. 'That is what you dogs do, right?'

'Your lame attempt at a joke, quite clearly proves that you spend far too much time with James.' He smirked in amusement.

'So you don't want to go for a walk then?'

'I could always go and chase some cats instead.' He replied pointedly.

'Sirius, how many times do you have to be told you can't threaten Smoky.' Remus sighed.

'It's not my fault that she got a stupid-bloody hell!' he jumped unexpectedly, shaking his hand madly.

'Siri?' his boyfriend asked, turning around to face him once more, his eyes awash with concern.

'My ring, it's went hot.' He explained quickly, and began feeling instantly worried. 'Oh shit, what the hell has James got himself into...?' Without another word he moved Remus forward, and stood up, before heading in the direction of the Quidditch pitch, with the rest of the group in tow...

The Quidditch pitch was currently decorated in the Gryffindor and Slytherin colours, due to the upcoming final match between the two houses, and Sirius had never felt worse about not accompanying James to his practice. I mean sure, he never bothered to go to the practices, Sirius simply didn't see the point, but knowing that something had clearly happened while he wasn't there was enough to make his stomach turn into a mix of guilt and anxiety.

'James!' he shouted loudly, looking around in confusion, there were people in the air, but not James. There were small groups of Slytherins exiting the Quidditch pitch, talking loudly about something or other, and Sirius assumed that the Slytherin team must have had a practice scheduled before Gryffindor's.

He made his way straight to the changing rooms, and it didn't take long to find James, who was sitting on one of the changing room benches, head tilted upwards, and hands covering his nose. Sirius dashed forwards and shook his head slightly, moving his hair out of his face as he did so. James has a trail of blood on him, and his eyes were scrunched up in annoyance.

'What on earth did you do!' Lily gasped, moving forward to sit herself down beside James, who jumped slightly in surprise, his eyes opening quickly, having now realised his friends and girlfriend had appeared.

'How did you know I was hurt?' he asked looking confused. His voice sounded slightly muffled, due to the hands he had on his face, and Sirius sighed in relief, he was incredibly grateful that nothing worse had happened to the young man who he classed as his brother in all but blood.

'The rings, of course, you stupid git,' Sirius rolled sighed. 'You nearly gave me a bloody panic attack, Potter.' He laughed.

'Sorry,' James replied sheepishly, from behind his hands.

'Why are none of the others in here with you?' Lily asked disbelievingly.

'We have a final to prepare for, Lily. I told them all to get back out there and practice.'

'You are _unbelievable_!' Lily huffed loudly, whipping her wand out quickly, and pointing it in James face. 'Move your hands.'

'Lily...'

'Just do it, James. I wouldn't perform spells if I wasn't sure I could do them properly.' James removed his hands, and Sirius could quite clearly see that James' nose had been burst. Lily wave the wand muttering some unknown spell to heal James' burst nose, before quickly adding _tergeo _to clean up all the dried blood.

'So,' Sirius began conversationally, holding back a snicker but smiling lightly in amusement. 'Who busted your nose up? Tell me you didn't do it yourself, Jamsie, did your huge ego cause you to lose your balance and fall off of that broom of yours?'

'Don't be a git, you should be thanking me, I was defending your bloody honour.' The bespectacled young man exclaimed in a slightly dramatic tone.

'My honour? From who?'

'Regulus.' James replied, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and Sirius could practically feel the protective vibes radiating off of his friend.

'Hitting you isn't really Reg's style though,' Sirius pointed out, feeling confused. 'Why wouldn't he just hex you?'

'Well we _were _duelling, at first. I got in a few hexes like you'd never believe-' but James changed tactics quickly, upon Lily's disapproving expression. 'But then he managed to disarm me...' he continued.

'Then?'

'Then I had to resort to throwing a punch, obviously. Only, he managed to land a good hit, burst my bloody nose open, pardon the pun, the stupid git.'

'Why were you fighting in the first place?' Lily sighed in exasperation. 'You're supposed to be setting a good example to the younger students.'

'I am.'

'In what way?' Lily replied unhappily.

'Lily, I will consider myself an _extremely _good example, if watching me fight Regulus teaches the younger students to be loyal and stand up for the people they care about.'

'Oh, you can't really argue with that, Petal.' Sirius grinned in amusement.

'Oh yes I can, there are better ways to go about doing things, than shooting hexes and landing punches!'

'I'm sorry, Lily. But there was no way that I was going to just stand there and let Regulus say the things he was saying.'

'What was he saying?' Sirius asked quietly.

'Well, what happened, was that the Slytherins had just rounded up their own practice when we arrived, and the two teams got into a bit of an argument because one of _their_ beaters made a comment about you, asked me to pass on a message, and then I told him to shut his mouth, and it kind of escalated from there really.'

'What was the message?' James seemed to look awkward all of a sudden and Sirius felt instantly fuelled by it. 'What was it James?' he snapped.

'He told me to ask you if you wanted to join their team for the final match, he uh...said you were used to uh..._playing for the other team_ anyway.'

'Fucking git, he needs to think up some better insults.' He growled, it wasn't a particularly good insult, or even an original one, but it was enough annoy him, and he understood why James had felt the need to get involved. 'What does Reg have to do with it then? I mean, if it was the beater who was making comments...'

'Well, they all made comments, but I guess..._Regulus_ was the one who started making direct comments about you and Remus, said that you disgusted him...he was making it pretty obvious that it wasn't _just_ because you're both guys though.'

'What!'

'I mean, everyone else would have thought it was just because Remus isn't a, you know, pureblood. But, well, I knew that wasn't what he meant, he was clearly talking about Remus' _furry little problem_.

'Yeah, I get you loud and clear.' He growled angrily, feeling instantly overprotective.

'Look, mate, don't go getting yourself into a shouting match with him okay, he's a waste of space. He knows that I will have told you what he said, so he's probably hoping for some sort of response, just leave it.'

'Arrogant arsehole.' He muttered angrily. 'I'd love nothing more than to rearrange that boy's face.'

'Sirius, no.' Remus spoke up finally, his eyes set to a fix him with a firm stare. 'Starting a fight with him is exactly what he's hoping for, just stay away from him.'

'Fine,' he growled unhappily.

'I mean it, Sirius. I don't want you getting into fights; we're nearly done at Hogwarts. Don't go getting yourself into any stupid-'

'-I won't.'

'I want you to promise me, Sirius.'

'What?'

'Promise me you'll stay away from him.'

'Remus, this is stupid.'

'You clearly didn't mean it then.'

'What?'

'You said you'd never break another promise to me, which is _exactly _why you don't want to make it.' Sirius instantly felt guilt flow through him, because he knew it was true. He couldn't bear the idea of breaking another promise to Remus, and he was so worried that he'd snap and lose control, that he was frightened to make the promise just in case he _did_ break it.

'You're not denying it.' Remus sighed, and look of utter disappointment in Remus' eyes was enough to make him sure that he wouldn't break any promise he made to the pale young man. He couldn't stand the idea of hurting Remus, it had happened far too often over the years and the idea of doing it any more was unbearable.

'I won't go getting myself in any trouble.' He said firmly, and pulled Remus into his arms, stealing a tight hug from his boyfriend.

'Promise?'

'I promise.'

'Good,' Remus mumbled into his chest, before pulling away and kissing him firmly, his hands losing themselves in Sirius' hair, and Sirius certainly wasn't complaining. 'Now,' he mumbled as they pulled apart, 'why don't we get back to revising? James has a practice to get on with.'

'As long as I don't have to listen to you lot discussing Herbology.' He smirked, as they exited the changing rooms.

'We're here now, so we may as well revise up in the stands.' Lily agreed quietly, her eyes flickering from James to the others as she smiled at the messy haired young wizard. James grinned wildly at her in return, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, before zooming off on his broom to continue his practice.

'Who's the one who'll be distracted now, I wonder...' Sirius teased her with a smirk, as they made their way up into the stands...

**I haven't had a chance to get around to replying to the reviews from the previous chapters yet, but I will get it done as soon as possible :) Thanks for hopefully understanding and being patient, your reviews really do mean the world to me :)**

**I was **_**extremely**_** excited by how many reviews I got in the last chapter, so thank you all very much! Also, I apologise for the delay in updating, I thought I'd have it out sooner, but I've been busy getting ready for college and whatnot, anyways, hopefully I'll have the rest of the chapters up soon so keep reading, and hopefully reviewing! It makes me smile :)**

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**Also a thank you to GreasyGitSS for reviewing an earlier chapter :)**

**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviewers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


	92. Chapter 92 The Quidditch Cup

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it!**

**Summary: I suck at summaries, but basically the story is about Sirius Black's time a Hogwarts and everything the marauders go through together. Just to let the readers know, since I was asked recently this story will contain both slash and het. SB/RL and JP/LE will appear later on in the story.**

**Rating: T for swearing and violence in certain chapters **

'AH!' the shout was barely even heard amongst the noise of the busy Common Room. But, James Potter jumping rapidly from his seat, in front of the fire, was amusing enough by itself, in Sirius' opinion.

'What's wrong Jamsie?' Sirius asked, feigning innocence as he made his way over to the group-with Peter by his side-and flopped down onto the floor in front of Remus, but facing the seat where his best friend sat.

'You just hit me in the head with a chocolate frog.' James huffed slightly, but the usual bounce, which the young man always had, seemed to be gone from the bespectacled young man.

'Yeah, with _my_ amazing aim, I really should have been on the Quidditch team, don't you think so, Jamsie?'

'Well you had plenty of chances to join the team, I told you to do just that, dozens of times.' The other replied quietly, seeming rather distracted.

'I suppose I was just never really meant for the Quidditch lifestyle.' He shrugged with a smile, and pulled a bar of chocolate from his pocket, turning to hand it to Remus who smiled gratefully. Sirius and Peter had taken a short trip to Honeydukes, making sure to get something for everyone in their group, hoping to try and lessen the tension.

Gryffindor Common Room was bursting with excitement, the room was decorated wildly, and the students were all bursting with conversation, the atmosphere in the room overflowing with pre-match jitters. The quietest person in the house today, so far, had been James. The messy haired young man seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, most likely thinking up every possible scenario that could occur in the approaching match.

'Wonder what it would take to make James snap out of Quidditch mode? Sirius joked. 'Remy, ravage me!' he declared, throwing himself backwards as far as possible against Remus' legs.

'I think there are far easier ways to get James' attention.' Remus chuckled lightly.

'Hey James, snap out of it before I plant a big kiss on your girlfriend.'

'I can think and listen to you at the same time, you know.' James huffed slightly. 'If you kiss Lily, I will personally hex you.' Unable to resist, Sirius jumped up and pulled Lily's into his arms, leaning forward as if to kiss her but stopping just short, his gaze trailing to James who rolled his eyes in amusement.

'I know you too well mate, there was no way you were gonna kiss her.'

'Oh really?' he challenged with a smirk.

'Not unless you want hexed, Sirius,' the redhead agreed with a smile. 'And it won't be James that's doing the hexing.'

'Oh how you wound me, Petal.' He sighed dramatically, before swooping forward and playfully planting a kiss on her cheek.

'_That_ you can get away with, I suppose.' She smiled, despite James' reaction, which was to hit Sirius playfully over the head.

'I need to go; I have to do my rounds early so that I can get ready for the match.' James sighed in frustration. 'You'd think McGonagall could give me a break, I mean, it's a one off. But she'll be making sure I do a round, after all I'm a Gryffindor so if I don't do it I'd be misrepresenting our house.' The bespectacled young man snorted in annoyance.

'Think of it this way James, whatever the results are for the match, you can drink away 'til your heart's content tonight. Either way, we'll have a party in here.'

'Yeah, I suppose...' James replied quietly. 'I'll see you guys at the match then?'

'Yup, we'll all be there.'

'You'll be great, James.' Lily agreed firmly, and gave him a quick peck, and a big smile. The Head Boy smiled in return and said his goodbyes, before exiting the room, leaving them with nothing to do but wait for the upcoming match...

It was quite strange, Sirius thought, to be up in the stands for the first time in what seemed like eternity. He had never bothered to attend James' practices, and had rarely attended a match since he started his relationship with Remus; due to it being the only time he could ever be sure that he would be alone with his boyfriend without the risk of people seeing them. Now, in the sea of red and gold he felt a rush of excitement surging through him, he couldn't wait to see how much James had improved.

The crowd was wildly decorated with banners, and it was one of the few moments in Sirius' time at Hogwarts where he could genuinely say that the Slytherins actually looked happy for once.

They-he and the others-had a banner of their own; red and gold, of course, with a large lion in the middle of it, which they had charmed to move around the large banner in a life-like manner, roaring loudly every so often. However, Sirius was not one for holding banners for long periods of time, and they had made sure to be there early; so that they could sit at the front of the stand, attaching the banner to the outside of the stand, displaying it proudly for the whole student body to see.

'Oh, I hope he's calmed down a bit now.' Lily fretted from beside him. 'James was really on edge before he left...'

'He'll be fine, Petal. You know what he's like, as soon as he sits on that bloody broom of his he'll go into autopilot and we'll be throwing our celebratory party before you can even _say _"we've won".' He grinned at her and she smiled back slightly, apparently not all that assured.

'They're coming out!' Peter shouted suddenly, pointing downwards towards the exiting players. A voice immediately boomed over the crowd and the Slytherin players' names were called loudly, receiving cheers from the Green and Silver quarter of the pitch.

'The whole Slytherin team's coming out?' he couldn't help but joke, and Lily smiled in amusement, before meeting eyes with Remus, and the two rolled their eyes simultaneously at his comment.

'And here comes the Gryffindor team.' Remus added in a few minutes later. Sirius immediately leaned forward, in a pointless attempt to get a better view. As soon as "Potter" was called the crowd erupted into cheers, and their own group was cheering as loud as humanly possible.

'With all the cheers he gets, it's not really that surprising he has such a big head.' Sirius joked, receiving a playful nudge in the side from the redheaded witch as he did. He watched carefully as the teams readied themselves, mounting their respective brooms.

Within a few minutes the match started and the crowd went into an excited frenzy. All four houses were shouting and cheering, and it was almost as if the school became one, any differences temporarily forgotten in those first few minutes of the match. However, it didn't last long. As soon as Slytherin scored the crowd separated into their respective sides, and the rivalry was underway.

'GO ON GRYFFINDOR!' he found himself roaring. 'FUCKING SCORE ALREADY!'

'We're only fifteen minutes into the match, Sirius. Try to have some patience.' Remus smiled in amusement and Sirius turned towards the pale young man, with a grin fixed on his face.

'I'm not the patient type, Remus.' He reminded his boyfriend with a laugh.

'Really? I'd never noticed.' The pale young man teased him, and Sirius only laughed more, simply pulling his boyfriend closer and draping an arm around him. He knew that he'd be gaining them a bit of unwanted attention, but at the precise moment in time he really couldn't have cared less. He was made incredibly happy when Remus cuddled into his side slightly, leaning his light haired head lightly on him...

The players continued to zoom around. And it wasn't long before the Gryffindor team were swooping in and out in an intricate motion, which James, no doubt, had come up with recently. Using this new technique, it wasn't long before Gryffindor found themselves in the lead.

'AND IT'S ANOTHER SCORE FOR GRYFFINDOR, PUTING GRYFFINDOR NINTY POINTS IN THE LEAD. ALL THEY NEED NOW IS THE SNITCH, AND THIS GAME WILL BE WON.'

'I really wish there wasn't a running commentary through these matches.' Lily rolled her eyes. 'It's pointless, we can see everything that's happening just as well as the commentator does, and I can tell what's going on myself, without the help of some lousy commentator.'

'Oh Remy, we've found our Lily's pet peeve.' Sirius declared with a grin. 'Maybe I'll give you a running commentary for the rest of the day.' He joked. Lily only raised her eyebrows as if challenging to even attempt it. He smirked back, ready to wind the redhead up with his own cheeky commentary.

'Don't Sirius,' Remus warned him lightly, without even taking his eyes off of the match and Sirius smiled instantly, he could have sworn that Remus was psychic.

'Sirius, look!' his boyfriend nudged him suddenly, pointing downwards. He leaned forward instantly, searching for whatever Remus was pointing at, and then he saw it; Gryffindor were inches away from winning the match. The crowd was screaming, three quarters in anticipation, one quarter in horror, as the race for the snitch lessened, the snitch barely out of Gryffindor's reach.

'AND THE SNITCH IS CAUGHT, GRYFFINDOR WIN THE QUIDDITCH CUP!' The roar of noise the proceeded that small piece of commentary was, truly, unbelievable...

'JAMES! JAMES, MOVE YOUR ASS THE HELL OVER HERE!' Sirius hollered loudly as his best friend came through the portrait hole, showing off the Quidditch cup proudly.

'SIRIUS!' James shouted happily in return, waving the cup gleefully. 'GRYFFINDOR WON THE FUCKING CUP!'

'I didn't ever doubt we would.' He grinned back, slapping his best friend happily on the back, and removing the cup from his friend's hands, passing it to the keeper to hold for a bit, and pushing a bottle of firewhisky into the messy haired young man's hands instead. 'Drink up and celebrate, Jamsie, this is our last ever celebratory party in this school, and I fully intend on enjoying it.'

'Where are the others?' James replied, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion as he glanced around the crowded Common Room.

'They won't be too long; Pete said he was out of...cake? I think...something like that, he went off to the kitchens...seemed a bit shady though. I reckon he's bagged himself a girl tonight but didn't want to admit who the girl was.' The idea _did _seem a little strange to Sirius, but at the same time he supposed that it was quite possible, plenty of people wanted someone to go off with others after the last match of the year. It always happened. Why anyone would chose Peter was, of course, beyond Sirius' understanding. Not that Peter wasn't a nice enough guy, of course, he just wasn't particularly good looking bloke.

'And the others?'

'Oh, Remus offered to go with Lily on her patrol so she wasn't on her own. He figured that that way _you _could get away with not being on patrol and enjoy your celebratory party that little bit more.'

'You've gotta love that guy's willingness to sacrifice his own time to help others.' James smiled happily, taking a swig from his bottle.

'That's Remus for you,' he smiled back. 'The greatest guy I know, no offence to you of course.'

'None taken, he's one hell of a guy to compete with. Plus, technically your relationship makes you biased, so I can pretend I would have won otherwise.' James smirked, pulling him along past a group of sixth years, ensuring that they got their seats by the fire...

As Sirius, had expected, it didn't exactly take them long before they were stumbling slightly, finding everything so very amusing, and becoming louder and louder with every drink. In all honesty, he hadn't even realised that his best friend had reached the point of being rather drunk, until James made a rather obvious spectacle of tripping, and only just managing to half catch himself from falling by grabbing onto the edge of one of the chairs. The bespectacled young man laughed loudly, standing up once more and making his way forward to get another drink, and a group of fifth years laughed heartily at him.

'James, you fool, you can barely walk!' Sirius laughed hysterically.

'Fine, 'm fine.' His best friend failed to assure him, stumbling slightly, and spilling some of the drink in his hand.

'Well, why am I not surprised?' Lily asked, as she entered the room and made her way over to them, faking exasperation with the pair.

'I had assumed that at least _you _would still be sober for a bit longer.' Remus added to Sirius with a smile, as he walked side by side with the redhead.

'I'm fine.' He assured his boyfriend, before remembering James saying just that only a few minutes ago, and bursting into laughter once more.

'Clearly not,' Remus contradicted him. 'How much have you had to drink?'

'Not much...I think...' he shrugged, feeling slightly woozy as he did so, and choosing to tug Remus' arm so that his boyfriend was sat with him.

'I reckn we should get these...those two some drinks, that way they can't complain 'bout us.' James explained loudly, but didn't make any move whatsoever to actually do so.

'I reckon we should push you off the astronomy tower, just to shut you up.' He teased, nodding his head enthusiastically in an imitation of his best friend.

'Well, I reckon-' James began huffily.

'-that we should have another drink!' he declared.

'Most definitely!' his best friend agreed whole heartedly.

'You have a drink already, James.' Lily shook her head disbelievingly. 'You sat it down at your feet.'

'Yeah!' the bespectacled young man remembered suddenly, grabbing the drink quite happily. 'Ha! Get your own Padfoot!'

'I will!' Sirius announced, and stood, ready to make his way to the table. But he instantly found himself stumbling sideways, feeling incredibly off balanced. And then suddenly, Remus was there, slipping an arm around his waist, looking at him in a rather torn manner. That was his problem you see. It was always his legs that went first, if he had too many drinks, his first problem was that he lost his ability to walk properly.

'Siri, I think you've had enough.' His boyfriend said softly, using his free hand to push Sirius' hair back off of his face.

'I'm fine,'

'I don' feel so...so good!' James declared sounding somewhat panicked.

'James is gonna puke his guts up.' He laughed loudly, pointing at his best friend in amusement.

'Oh, no you don't, James. Not in the Common Room.' Lily said loudly.

'Right, both of you upstairs.' Remus sighed.

'Not yet, Remy, we've not even danced.' Sirius huffed, wrapping his arms around Remus, and resting his head on the pale young man's shoulders.

'You've had more than enough to drink though.'

'I'm still standing, am I not? Therefore, _no,_ my dearest Remus, I have _not _had enough.'

'Why don't the four of us go upstairs and drink then? You don't really like being at a party anyway.'

'That, Remus, is a...a...what's that word?'

'What word?'

'That word when something is really good...great! That's it. That, Remus, is a _great_ idea.'

'Okay, well let's go then.' Remus chuckled.

'Aww, but Remus, I just want one dance! Dance with me Remy.'

'We can hear the music perfectly well upstairs, Sirius. We can dance up there, if you _really _have to.'

'We can do a different kind of dance up there, Remy.' He winked.

'Not with James and Lily there, we can't.' Remus chuckled in amusement, and Sirius wondered briefly what, exactly, Remus thought was so funny.

'Come on Jamsie! We're gonna have a party, all of our own, without all the trash.' Sirius laughed loudly, and nodded in the direction of Mary Macdonald, who was sat with a group of sixth years.

'Haha, that girl's an idiot!' the messy haired man roared with laughter.

'The two of you are doing a good job of being idiots yourself.' Lily told them with a small laugh of her own. 'Now come on...grab a drink, and head upstairs.'

Sirius did just that, he grabbed a strange coloured drink, not that he cared enough to question it anyway, and made his way to the stairs. He had only really gotten up a few stairs, when he quite clearly misjudged the step and fell, quite ungracefully, with a _thud_. Yet, his first instinct wasn't to stand up once more, it was to laugh, finding the situation incredibly funny, although he wasn't entirely sure why he found it so funny.

'Lily, can you hold my drink please.' Remus asked kindly, handing her his own drink, and wrapping an arm around Sirius' waist once more. Sirius allowed himself to be pulled up, into a standing position, and rested his head on Remus' shoulder quite happily.

'Remy, you're a star.' He declared loudly, as they entered their dormitory, and Remus sat him carefully down upon their bed. 'Well, actually, _I'm _a star, cus I'm Sirius, and Sirius is a star.'

'Yes, you're definitely Sirius. No one else is _quite _like you.' Remus smiled, and Sirius closed his eyes briefly, enjoying the feel of Remus' hand pushing back his hair once more. He smiled back at his boyfriend, who was crouched in front of him, smiling at him half in amusement and half in exasperation.

'I feel sick...' James choked suddenly with wide eyes.

'Right, come on James, I'm taking you to the nearest bathroom.' Lily sighed.

'You can't do that! You're not allowed in the boys bathrooms.'

'I'm Head Girl, James. I'll go wherever I see fit.'

'But-'

'-but nothing, James, Remus does not deserve to have to sleep in a room where you're being sick.'

'What about me?' Sirius found himself demanding unhappily. 'I don't wanna have him being sick in here either!'

'You've probably had just as much to drink as he has,' Lily reminded him, with a nod towards James. 'So I have no pity for you.'

'Aww, I love you too, Petal.' He said in a teasing tone.

'C'mon, James.' And with that the two left the room once more.

'I don't like stars.' He sighed, thinking back to what he'd just talked about with Remus.

'Yes, you do.' Remus smiled in amusement.

'No I don't, they're pretty enough, but they're empty and meaningless, they're just stupid; they're just stupid bloody stars.'

'The stars are not stupid, Sirius. And you like the stars, I know you do.'

'But I don't like _them_.' He whispered, thinking of his family. Or, to be more accurate, the people who were _supposed _to be his family...

'Oh Sirius,' Remus breathed lightly, seeming to understand him perfectly, and draping his arms around him gently. 'It's okay Siri; you don't need to think about them. They may have an obsession with stars and constellations, but just because you're named after a star, that doesn't mean you're any more connected to them than you want to be. You may hate them, and you're right to, they were horrible to you. But however much I hate them for what they did to you, I am still grateful to them for one thing, you. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have you. You're my star, Sirius. And no matter what, you will never have to see them again; you won't have to go back there again, not now, and not ever.

'Promise?' he whispered.

'I promise.'

'Okay,' he mumbled quietly, closing his eyes once more, feeling extremely tired. 'I'm sleepy.'

'I know, let's get you out of those clothes.'

'Oh really?' Sirius replied in a suggestive tone.

'That's _not _what I meant,' the scarred young man laughed.

'Pity that.' He mumbled with a smile, and lifted his hips to allow Remus to remove his trousers. Within a few short minutes Sirius had been undressed and placed beneath the covers.

'You need to just sleep it off, okay?' Remus said softly, and Sirius allowed him to push his hair back off of his face once more.

'Lie down with me, Remy.' He mumbled quietly, and was incredibly happy when Remus complied with his request, lying down atop the covers beside him.

'Why are not going to sleep too?'

'I'll go to sleep in a little while; I don't want to go asleep before the others get back. Lily might need me to sort out James for bed.'

'Let her do it,' he huffed. 'I want a proper cuddle.' Remus rolled his eyes at his words, and shifted, pulling back the cover to get comfy and wrap an arm around Sirius. Sirius immediately found himself snuggling in closer, breathing in Remus' familiar scent and curling into his side.

'Remy...'

'Yes?'

'I love you.'

'I love you too, Siri.'

'Thank you, Remy.'

'For what?'

'For taking care of me.'

'I'll always take care of you.' Remus told him firmly, placing a gentle kiss upon his forehead, and Sirius snuggled closer, before drifting off to sleep, feeling perfectly safe and at ease in his Remy's embrace.

**Where to begin...well, let's just say I've had a **_**lot **_**of bad luck since my last update, and I've also been ridiculously busy** **with starting college and whatnot. I know it's not really much of an excuse, but trust me I am **_**very **_**sorry for taking so long to update! This is longest I've ever taken to update this story and I feel quite bad for making you all wait so long. So yeah, as I should have guessed my stats have dropped again, but for everyone who is still reading and enjoying; I will try to get the next update out very soon. There is only two more chapters left after this :O It's very strange...so yeah, enjoy this while it's still going :) and review too! It makes me smile like this - :)**

**Also, I will reply to the reviews for Chapter 91, and to my other new reviews, after I get home from college tomorrow, just so everyone knows :)**

**Thanks for reading, my writing means a lot to me and I enjoy reviews...they keep me motivated and help me know if the readers are enjoying the story :)**

**Just want to say a big, big thank you to my reviewers – the list got a bit too long so I'll just name the people who reviewed the previous chapter instead!**

**Hyperteenager24**

**Dancing-Time-Witch-Vampiress**

**Fizzy-Flo**

**GiggleNo9**

**XxBlackTypwriterxX**

**Smileyouhaveareview**

**HarryPotterResidentEvilFanJnL**

**FuzzyBuni**

**hp-scribbler**

**Sara I Have No Profile**

**Remusstalker**

**Also a thanks to those who reviewed earlier chapters since chapter 91 was updated, I really enjoy reading new reviews for earlier chapters:**

**witch-for-ordinary (nice to have you back!)**

**Runnerland**

**It's nice to see familiar names, it makes me all warm and happy inside :) but it's also nice to see some new faces, well technically names, the same principle applies :P**

**Also I just want to remind people that I am REALLY appreciative for all the reviews and support, even if I can't actually send messages to some of the reviewers! ILY people :)**

**It means the world to me that you like my story enough to review so keep reading and enjoy :)**

**-Huggable-Fanatic-**


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